


Press Start to Continue

by StellarSeptem



Series: This Relentless Future [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Ambassador Papyrus, Autistic Chara (Undertale), Canon-Typical Violence, Chara Is Not Evil, Flavor Text Narrator Chara (Undertale), Gen, Ghost Chara (Undertale), Narrator Chara (Undertale), Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Trans Character, Undertale Monsters on the Surface
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22236004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarSeptem/pseuds/StellarSeptem
Summary: The monsters are finally free of the barrier that trapped them for so long, but this happy ending is just the beginning. Months after it has dissipated due to the actions of a certain talking flower, monsterkind is starting to establish itself on the surface. Events begin to occur that will shape a new future.(This will be the first part of a larger fic series set after the mercy or 'pacifist' ending.  Expect the usual shenanigans.)
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale)
Series: This Relentless Future [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600603
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. Places to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flowey gets tired of looking at flowers every day. He decides there are better things to do.

Light pours into the area above the animated flower. It illuminates the pillars that stand defiantly against the rigors of time. A small patch of significantly more stationary flowers is illuminated by the starlight that pierces this underground domain. He is reminded of times long since past. A human child he had once befriended. Now both of them remained here. One as a corpse buried beneath the flowers and another cursed to be reborn as one of those same flowers. There was nothing to do now. Nobody to play with, torture, kill, or whatever else a soulless creature might do. It produced an intensely wearying sense of boredom, worse than he’d ever felt before. Why on earth did he even bother sticking around this place? It was dead, even more so since the collapse of the barrier. Taking care of these flowers was mostly ceremonial, they’d be fine on their own. They had admired such things, but he doubted even they would bother with such nonsense. It was pointlessly sentimental. If he was supposed to be ‘moving on’, this wasn’t the way to do it. Months had passed since he had shattered the barrier with his stolen power. Or Asriel had? He couldn’t really bring himself to care much about the previously established distinction. It was long past time to do something besides sit around in a stupid ruined city.

He passes through the all too familiar areas of the ruins, not meeting a single monster along the way. That would have been uncommon back before the monsters left for the surface, but now this former city was practically abandoned. It was not long before he reached the house where his mother had lived for so long. The tree positioned out front was now dying without anyone to care for it. Kind of funny, he thought. He moved on the interior of the home. In order to do something, he wasted time by visiting each room of the place. It was now lifeless for the most part. Everything that stayed behind grew dusty and was forgotten. There wasn’t much left though, Toriel had moved her stuff out after getting a home on the surface. All that remained was an empty house. Flowey had no interest in maintaining it or any other area of the ruins. He could just move on to another place in the underground if needed. Speaking of which, he then moved though the corridors that lead out of the ruins. The same ones that seven humans had traveled before him on their way to Asgore. Only one of which survived to return that same way at some point.

Now he was in the snowy climate of Snowdin. Yet another area he knew sickeningly well. He trudged along through the cold forests with mild discomfort. His flower body did not take well to this place, but he had grown to mostly tolerate it. After all, he had plenty of time to adapt to its frigidity in all those resets. The region was devoid of people aside from a single individual he had spotted. He was glad to avoid them and any possible unprompted conversation. At last, he eventually arrived at Snowdin town. It was a bit more lively. There were considerably less people here now, but several still remained. As far as business was concerned, it seemed only the Inn and Shop run by those rabbit monsters remained. Grillby’s and the library both had ‘closed’ signs adorning their doors. The library one had an additional note scribbled on reading:

‘Maybe the new place will have a properly spelled sign.’

Flowey chooses to enter the shop to ask about how things have changed around here. Using a vine to grip and open the door, he crawls into the building. His presence is immediately noted by the shopkeeper, who looks downward at him. She smiles at the prospect of seeing someone different in the store for once. He looked vaguely familiar to her, but she clearly hadn’t seen him in a long time.

“Hello, traveller. I’m surprised that I’m actually able to say that for once. I’ve got to say, you look a bit familiar.” She greets Flowey.

“Howdy!” He says almost reflexively. “I’ve actually been here before, but not since before the barrier broke.” His voice slips into that false friendly tone he had developed. Such habits were hard to break.

“That makes sense. Glad to have a returning customer!” She adds cheerily.

“Oh. I’m Flowey, by the way! In case you forgot.” He clarifies, unintentionally dripping a bit of a malice into the final sentence.

“Thanks for the reminder. What did you want?” She continues.

He thought for moment on what exactly to say. There were plenty of questions he could ask, but he didn’t want to be here all day. He wanted to know what was happening on the surface. She might at least have a hint that would lead him to further information.

“I just wanted to hear about the surface. I’ve been stuck in the ruins until now.” He replied.

“I don’t know that much I’m afraid. I’ve only been out there briefly to look for a new place to set up shop. Me and my sister have stayed behind for a while, but we’ve been planning to relocate soon.” She paused. “What I have seen was beautiful though. Words and pictures don’t do the sun justice.”

Her response was rather lacking in his estimation. He already knew all that stuff. Her description of the sun did remind him of his own brief visit to the surface. She was right about how it felt to see it for the first time. However, that memory carried other more unpleasant feelings with it. As such, he did his best to avoid thinking about that. Getting lost in thought would only distract from his current goal.

“Sounds great!” He blurted out with false enthusiasm. “Maybe I’ll visit you when you get the new shop running.” He added without truly intending to commit to that.

“I’d be glad for the business. Not much left for us down here, so it won’t be long.” Her tone made it clear she hadn’t noticed his practiced insincerity.

“I should be going I guess. Thanks for the info!” Ending the conversation, he moved to the exit.

“See at the new place!” The bunny monster exclaimed as he left the building.

That wasn’t likely, he thought. She would probably end up somewhere entirely too close to the person he least wanted to see. Any degree of proximity to Frisk was supremely against his wishes. They would probably pity him or try to help him in some pointless way. They had worked so hard to save everyone else, after all. Their reaction to ‘Asriel’ fading away was all too telling. Asriel and Chara were dead. Nothing would save them. Frisk just got lucky that Flowey could absorb souls. Without him, they’d either be dead or trapped with the monsters. No saving would have happened in that case. Besides, they weren’t exactly a perfect savior anyway. The timelines before their ‘happy ending’ contained quite a few monster dustings. It was fine that they eventually helped break the barrier, but only because they convinced him to do it as Asriel. If Frisk thought they could bring his old body and soul back without any other souls to use, they were sorely mistaken. Even then, it’d probably need to be the monster souls. After all, the human ones didn’t really change him. Taking the monster souls again would defeat the point of this whole thing. He was Flowey now and forever.

Now thoroughly annoyed at being reminded of Frisk’s existence, he continued on his way. Reaching the edge of the town after a while, he notices that Ice Wolf is still here. They are no longer performing the task of cooling the Core, but he already knew that. He considers approaching them for a conversation, but decides not to do so in the end. Leaving the town, he perceived a rather notable change. The skeleton brothers home is completely gone. He has no idea how they managed that, but doesn’t really care to think too much about it. They both could do some pretty strange stuff at times.

Passing through the fog on one end of the town, he had now begun to enter Waterfall. It was much the same as everywhere else he had gone. Far fewer monster around than before. It didn’t take long for him to get to the former homes of Napstablook and Undyne. The fish lady’s house was a charred wreck just as it had been since Frisk visited. Nothing was left but some burnt up furniture. Napstablook’s house was more like the home in the ruins, dusty and empty. He didn’t even bother with Mettaton’s old place. The farm was also bereft of any life. Its snails had been moved to the surface with the ghost that tended to them. Finding little of interest, Flowey moved on to the next area. He thought Gerson might have something worthwhile to say. He approaches the storefront of the shop run by the turtle monster.

“Surprised to see you here. Figured you’d be on the surface already.” The elderly monster said, reacting to presence of Flowey.

“I had things to do. It isn’t surprising for you to still be here though.” He retorted.

“Yep. The surface is overrated anyway. Someone might as well stay and that someone is going to be me.” The turtle-like being added.

“Speaking of the surface, heard anything I should know about it?” Flowey asked.

“Yes. You should get up there and explore since you look so bored. Just mind the humans. Some of them can be a bit feisty.” He explained.

The other monsters presumption of his desires irritated him a bit despite the truth behind it.

“I guess I will.” Flowey said defiantly.

“Good to hear. You gonna buy anything or was that it?” The storekeep responded.

“No. Goodbye.” The sentient flower replied, ending their exchange.

Removing himself from the storefront, he continued his journey. Leaving the old turtle monster behind in search of something to alleviate his boredom. The surface was starting to seem more and more appealing despite certain monsters only giving limited information. It looked like he’d need to go there himself to learn anything. However, he had to get through the underground first. Flowey approached the River Person’s ferry and requested a destination.

“Hotland.” He stated in a disinterested manner.

They said something in response, but he didn’t care to listen. It was the same when the ferry reached Hotland. Their greetings and goodbyes went unnoticed. He was too busy thinking about his current objective. He headed straight to the elevator, intent on skipping most of Hotland. It lacked anything of interest. He was tired of not actually getting any useful information out of the monsters still down here. They were incredibly unhelpful at giving anything more than vague hints. He listens to the familiar hum of the elevator as it takes him near Mettaton’s ridiculous hotel. From there, he enters the awful place. The greeter speaks to him, but he ignores him like he did before with the River Person.

He hurried past, avoiding the others that still maintained the hotel. His path then naturally took him to the ominous entryway to the Core. Entering it, he could hear the strange humming noise that pervaded the entirety of the complex. He was glad to find that the layout had been altered for the better since Frisk's journey. Flowey was able to easily traverse the Core with the straightforward path that had been created through it. This took him to the final elevator which lead to New Home. Offering only a passing glance at the city, he had soon enough reached his former home. The one he inhabited as Asriel, prince of the kindom of monsters. Now he was just Flowey, lord of unlimited boredom. The house carried far too many memories for his comfort. He walked onward to the inside of that place. It was still furnished, unlike the home in the ruins. There were even signs that somebody still maintained it. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the home was completely unchanged from the last time he'd seen it. He figured that was odd with everything that had changed since the barrier fell. He chose not to linger on that thought too long, in the event that Asgore returned. Seeing him would be a waste of time. With that in mind, he moved on quickly enough to avoid being reminded too much of better times.  
  
Passing through golden corridors flanked by stained glass windows, Flowey remember the time he learned what that lazy skeleton could really do. Where did he get those things anyway? It annoyed him that he couldn't ever find out. Now he probably never would. That skeleton was good at keeping secrets, so asking was pointless. Killing was out of the question even if he somehow managed to succeed now. He wasn't going to be that kind of person again.  
  
The golden light filtering through the windows soon faded as he left on approach to the throne room. No surprise, it was the same as ever. Same golden flowers. Same lonely throne. Nothing worth paying any attention to in this place. Marching forward at the brisk pace he’d maintained for some time now, he moved on to the next area. He was now occupying the space where the barrier that had trapped monsterkind once stood. Its ominous shimmer no longer haunted this passageway. The souls of six humans and nearly all monsters had long since shattered it. The reminder of his brief return to monsterhood was a bitter one. He didn’t regret releasing everyone that he had hurt in the first place, but the price was quite heavy. That being said, he thought it was a mostly fair one. Getting away with doing all the horrible stuff he had done hardly seemed right. It was true that only he remembered most of those things, but they definitely still happened regardless.

Purging those pesky feelings of remorse from his mind, he found his way to the exit from this mountain. The daylight was about as harsh as expected. His eyes adjusted pretty quickly though. Aside from that, a refreshing warmth enveloped him. It was a rather welcoming experience. His flower form seemed to respond extremely positively to all of this. He was certain Chara could have explained the reasons for that. They did like plants a lot. It was hard to get them to stop once they started speaking on the subject. However, he was fine without the specific knowledge. The fact that the situation worked to his benefit was enough.

Carrying on, he decided it would be prudent to scope out where to go from here. Looking around, there were only a few landmarks aside from the large forest present in this mountainous region. To the far left, there was a break in said forest. He remembered it all too well. That was the village were he was fatally wounded. It looked different, he was pretty sure some of the buildings had collapsed. Even so, there was no way he would risk going there again. It being potentially abandoned didn’t change that. Too many things he’d rather forget would be summoned by that awful place. Instead, he focused his attention on the prominent feature present to his right. Tall rectangular buildings stood behind the mountain hills. He was pretty sure those weren’t here last time he’d been on the surface. That place might be more tolerable since the monsters almost certainly went there upon exiting. It seemed so big that he would hopefully be unlikely to encounter Frisk.

The way down the mountain eventually leads to a well-traveled forest path. Many monsters had clearly came this way when moving to the surface. Trees kept most of it in shade along the way. There were a few breaks in their overlapping shadows, but not many. After almost growing weary of the environmental repetition, he had finally reach the edge of the forest. Before him was the fairly imposing city with its enormous buildings mixed in with many smaller ones. He supposed that this is something that he would have enjoyed even more in his more questionable days. A whole city full of people with which to toy. This was far larger than even New Home, so it unfortunately would have been a perfect playground for his past self. He is glad that is no longer the case. He would just have to try his best to enjoy things in a far less horrific fashion. His only real question was what exactly he should do. There was a lot of possibilities laid out before him now. Exploring seemed like a logical starting point. He had a practiced sense of patience from all those timelines with the power to save. He would take his time to figure things out in this new place. At least he had learned something positive from that whole experience.

Entering the city was a little different than he had expected. There was so much to take in. Everything was happening so fast around him. Humans seemed to be very busy here. It was a bit of an information overload. He managed just fine after having some time to drink it all in though. This place was interesting for sure. Flowey made certain to take mental notes of all the things that were different from monster society. A lot of it matched up with what Chara had told him, but there was stuff that seemed better than they let on. Maybe they had just never been to a place like this? That village was bad, but this city was great. He eagerly wandered around to learn as much as possible. It was good to actually have something to do for once. One fact that did not escape his notice was the way many humans looked at him. They varied quite a bit in their reactions as well. Some seemed intrigued or excited, while others were suspicious or fearful. The negative responses were largely overshadowed by the other more friendly ones. Humanity wasn’t so bad after all. Though he did consider that some might just be better at hiding it. He tried to hope for the best despite that possibility. His former ‘kill or be killed’ philosophy did rely on such cynical ideas and they were best avoided as a result.

At some point, he began to be approached by a curious human bold enough to interact with him. His focused switched to them as they moved close. It wasn’t long before they addressed Flowey.

“I haven’t seen a flower monster before.” They spoke in an overeager manner. As though almost tripping over their words before sticking the landing.

“We’re not that common.” He said, despite the fact that he technically wasn’t a monster. More of a failed science experiment.

“Oh. That explains it I guess.” The human adds a bit absentmindedly.

“Did you want something?” Flowey retorts, trying not to show how quickly he is growing tired of this exchange.

“Yeah! A picture with you if you don’t mind. I’ve been doing this with every monster I meet. If they let me at least.” Enthusiasm permeates their voice.

“Okay. Just don’t post it online.” He said cautiously.

“Don’t worry. I won’t. Can I show my friends in person though? It’d be a shame not being able to share it at all.” They sound hopeful for an affirmative answer.

“That’s fine.” Flowey concedes. It was unlikely this person knew anyone that would be of consequence.

“Cool.” The person replied while reaching into a pocket to grab their phone.

They retrieve the device and prepare it for use. Flowey moves himself behind them in such a way to allow a decent shot. They position the phone in the traditional ‘selfie’-oriented manner. Pressing on a button on the screen, the photo is swiftly captured. Flowey waits for a moment as they assess its quality.

“Great! Thanks for humoring me!” They say, being satisfied with the image.

The monster is relieved to hear it. Now he can return to exploration again.

“No problem.” He lies. It was a bit of a problem, but no use being rude.

The two separate, each going their respective ways. Flowey continued to examine every inch of this city that he could. On occasion, he would run into monsters and chat with them about what was happening on the surface. It was risky, but he had to learn more. He was careful not to say his name. Though he guessed that wouldn’t matter much. Anyone talking about a flower monster would give him away. He tried to ignore that worry as best he could. The night here was equally fascinating, but in new ways compared to the daytime. The stars were quite different from the crystals that had imitated them in the underground. He couldn't see many due to the light of the city, but they almost appeared to be alive in a way the crystals did not. He had heard that each of them was like the sun, a burning fireball that lit up the darkness all around them. It was a lot to think about when considering how many burn brightly out there. In addition to such natural wonders, this bustling settlement itself changed at night. Humans did different things and many places opened up for business or closed conversely. Activity began to slow gradually, but there was always something happening even with less and less people on the streets. After spending the entire night out learning about it, the dawn came as an indicator of the time spent. He decided that he should probably get some rest. This body caused him to be capable of staying awake for longer than his monster form, but he preferred not to test those limits. Finding a park with plenty of trees, he found one to take root within. Climbing high enough to not be seen, he tried to make the best sleeping area he could with the limited resources. Nestled in the temporary arboreal shelter, he fell asleep before long.

  
Awakening the next day was nearly a harrowing event, as he had forgotten his precarious sleeping position. Fortunately, he avoided the unpleasant possibility of tumbling out of the tree to the ground below. Climbing back down with a little more care than the upward climb, he found himself firmly on a solid surface again. A whole city in front of him once more, he set out to continue his adventures. This quickly became an all-consuming habit. Another day passed as he sought out all this city had to offer. Time felt like it sped by as days passed for the flower. A week had soon been spent on his various activities around the area. Humans were quite entertaining to observe given all the strange things they did. It reminded him of the timelines where he just watched the other monsters go about their business without his interference. The difference here was that watching all these humans was far more rewarding. Their actions varied so much by comparison. His time on the surface had been well worth it. He was right to do this.  
  
During all that exploration, he had overheard some talk about a monster town that had sprung up recently. It was where many of the monsters that departed from Mt. Ebott went after leaving the underground. There were some that went into the city as well, but not a very large number. Humans still were trying to figure out how to deal with this emerging population. He had seen news segments playing on large screens within the city that detailed the situation. It seemed that the response to their presence was mostly neutral or positive. He hadn’t seen the sort of reactions that those villagers had yet. A few humans were cautious or confused, but he had not seen much outright hostility so far. Something compelled him to investigate the monster town, if only from a distance. He began to make his way there. From what he had heard, it was only a short distance outside the city. Placed somewhere between Ebott and the city itself. While at the edge of the human settlement, he could see it in the distance. Traveling along a recently paved path connecting the two places, he drew close enough to make out the buildings. Most were just homes, built in all sorts of different shapes and sizes to accommodate the particular monsters that inhabited them. A few shops were present as well. The most standout feature was undoubtedly the massive lab that stood far above the height of every one structure. It was clearly a recreation of the lab Alphys used in the underground. He was a little surprised that she was willing to return to scientific pursuits so soon. Overall, the monsters appeared to have adapted just fine to their newfound lives on the surface if the construction of this place was an adequate benchmark. He decided that his curiosity had been served well enough by this visit.

Turning around to leave, he pulled his gaze away from the developing town. His departure was soon interrupted by an unexpected guest. Their sudden appearance startled him. He almost fell over as they began to speak.

“MY OLD FLOWERY FRIEND!” The skeleton pauses upon seeing Flowey’s reaction. “APOLOGIES. I DID NOT MEAN TO SPOOK YOU. ” A welcoming grin manifested itself on Papyrus’ face as he said this. “DID YOU COME TO VISIT? I WAS OUT ON PATROL WHEN I NOTICED YOU. IT TECHNICALLY ISN’T MY JOB, BUT I’LL ALWAYS BE A ROYAL GUARD IN SPIRIT.”

Flowey gathered himself and returned to a neutral state as the other monster apologized.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. And no, I was just...checking things out. I’ve been too busy to visit.”

That last statement was a lie, but he wanted to avoid explaining his reasoning for not going here.

“THAT IS UNFORTUNATE. YOU’VE MISSED A LOT OF FUN SURFACE STUFF. MY JOB AS AMBASSADOR HAS BEEN VERY EVENTFUL. HUMANS DO THINGS VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN MONSTERS WHEN IT COMES TO GOVERNMENT.” Papyrus replied, choosing to ignore the suspicious tone in his friend’s voice.

“Just don’t let Frisk know about this meeting.” The flower monster requested.

“AS YOU WISH. I’M VERY GOOD AT KEEPING SECRETS.” Papyrus affirmed. Trust was an important component of friendship, after all.

“Thanks. Glad I can count on you.” He offered a strained fake smile to reinforce this.

“NO PROBLEM. I HAVE AN IDEA THOUGH. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ENTERTAIN IT.” The skeleton vaguely gestured.

“What is it?!” Impatience bled into the question a bit despite his best efforts.

“WE COULD HANG OUT. SECRETLY. NO ONE ELSE WILL KNOW.” Papyrus suggests.

“I...don’t know. What if they find out?” Flowey adds cautiously.

“WORRY NOT. I WILL ENSURE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR MEETING DOES NOT REACH THEM.” The skeleton asserts with confidence.

Flowey sighs in resignation. “I guess we can. It has been a long time since we last met.” He says reluctantly. Despite this, a part of him was excited to interact with the skeleton once again.

“WONDERFUL! I’VE GOT THE PERFECT PLACE FOR A CLANDESTINE HANG OUT.” Papyrus declares.

“Where?” Flowey asks.

“THE HUMAN SHOP FROM WHICH I ACQUIRE NEW CLOTHES. BEING AN AMBASSADOR REQUIRES LOOKING MY BEST. THE BATTLE BODY IS ADEQUATE ENOUGH FOR MOST OCCASIONS, BUT IT SEEMED WISE TO BROADEN MY OPTIONS. IT HAS PAID OFF.” Papyrus explains.

“Really? That’s where we’re going?” Flowey said incredulously.

“YES. IT WILL BE FINE. ANYWHERE ELSE RISKS FRISK LEARNING OF THIS EVENT. YOU MAY RETURN TO SECLUSION AFTERWARD IF DESIRED.” He attempted to give some measure of assurance to the former boss monster.

“If you say so. I just wish it was more exciting.” Disappointment colored his words.

“ANYTHING CAN BE EXCITING UNDER THE CORRECT CIRCUMSTANCES. WELL, MOST THINGS ANYWAY. WE SHOULD BE GOING. THAT WAY WE WON’T BE SPOTTED BY ANYBODY ELSE.” He cautioned to prevent the scenario that Flowey wished to avoid.

“Are we walking? That will take a while.” The living flower questioned.

“OF COURSE NOT. WE ARE GOING TO RIDE IN STYLE. I HAVE A CAR THAT WILL BE PERFECT FOR THIS OCCASION. WAIT HERE WHILE I GET IT.” Papyrus replied.

“Oh. If anybody comes near though, I’ll have to leave.” Flowey was surprised to hear that. He had expected a long walk.

“UNDERSTOOD.” Papyrus added as he walked in the direction of the town, leaving the other behind.

Flowey waited as instructed. The brief period of time seemed much longer with how often he checked for unwelcome familiar faces. Luckily, none of those faces materialized to spot him. Papyrus soon arrived, slowing down upon approach in order to carefully pull up beside the other monster.

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS ARRIVED!” He exclaimed.

“Whoa! Cool car!” Flowey said with genuine enthusiasm. He thought it looked so much better than the bed that was nearly identical to it. He wasn’t sure how that worked. His sincerity was almost surprising to him. It had been a long time since he wasn’t merely bored at everything.

“HOP IN. THE FRIEND ACTIVITIES BEGIN NOW.” The skeleton stated as he opened the passenger door to allow entry.

Flowey crossed in front of the vehicle on his way to the door. Upon getting there, he extended his vines to grip the seat and pull himself up into the car. Once he had adjusted to sit properly in the passenger seat, Papyrus reached over to buckle his seatbelt.

“SAFETY IS ALWAYS AN IMPORTANT PART OF DRIVING. NOW WE CAN GO.” He stated after doing so. Pressing on the gas pedal, he began to drive down the road ahead.

Not much was said on route to their destination. Papyrus at some point turned on the radio. It was tuned to a station that it seemed Mettaton operated. The songs on it were evidently a mix of monster and human music. He recognized one of the monster songs, but all of the others were completely unknown to him. Most were pretty decent in his opinion. Papyrus had good taste. Only a few of them had time to play before they arrived at their destination. It was of modern design, matching pretty much everything else in the city for the most part. A sign stood over its entrance that revealed the name of the establishment.

‘Thaum-Attire’

Flowey found the name weird, but did not care enough to comment. Looking within the windows, he saw a lot of interesting looking clothing. Alongside a fairly normal outfit were some robe-like ones that looked like they belonged in the era of the human-monster war. It was a bizarre incongruence, but he supposed they didn’t look that bad. The music suddenly stopped as Papyrus apparently turned the radio off. This was followed by him opening his door to consequently exit the vehicle. Closing it, he moved over to the side on which Flowey sat and did much the same. Getting out was simpler than getting in. Nothing more than a small drop from within the car to outside of it. They were now ready to go in.

“HERE WE ARE. THE BEST CLOTHING SHOP IN THE CITY.” Papyrus announced proudly.

Flowey added nothing to the statement, merely choosing instead to follow him as he entered. Tagging along a short distance behind. They walked through the entrance together, finding themselves now on the interior of the building. The décor was what one would expect based on the displays in the window. The whole place had a magical theme to it. A human’s idea of magic anyway. Plenty of audacious choices of attire could be found here in addition to more mundane stuff. It was modestly sized, but had plenty of items from which to choose.

“Papyrus! Good to see you again.” Said a human at the front desk position close to the front door. The human then noticed Flowey with him. “Did you want to get something for your friend there?” She added.

Another human spoke up as well before Papyrus could answer. “Oh! I was wondering when you’d come by again.” Much like the other one, this human welcomed the skeleton monsters arrival.

“MAYBE. I DON’T KNOW IF HE WANTS ANYTHING.” He answered the question posed by the initial speaker.

“We’ll see.” Flowey responded diplomatically. He didn’t want anything.

“I think I could find something for you. Although I’ve never dressed a flower before.” The second human admits.

“I’LL SHOW HIM AROUND FIRST.” Papyrus retorted.

“Cool. Oh yeah! I’m Indigo. She’s Violet.” They added in explanation.

Papyrus starts to lead Flowey around the store after this exchange. Coming across something of particular interest, he stops. The item in question is a colorful suit with bow shaped like a cartoon bone.  
  
"I SEE YOU TWO HAVE ADAPTED QUITE WELL TO MY DISCERNING TASTES." He says fondly in appraisal of the suit.  
  
"We wanted to give people a way to emulate the world's greatest ambassador." Violet replied.  
  
"YOU REALLY THINK SO? I’M HONORED." Papyrus asked. Flowey chose not to join in.  
  
"Of course. You aren't some stuffy diplomat. You actually know how to have fun and treat people like....people." Indigo added, faltering a bit on word choice at the end.  
  
"WOW. MY EFFORTS ARE TRULY PAYING OFF. THANKS." He absorbed the praise like a sponge.  
  
"No problem. Anything for our favorite customer." Indigo said, complementing their words with a friendly smile. A real one, as Flowey knew the difference.  
  
From then on, it was much the same. Papyrus showed Flowey a number of different clothing items he thought at least one of them would like. Flowey did his best to offer some kind of meaningful opinion or observation each time. The two humans often chimed in as well. He didn't know them at all aside from this meeting, but found them agreeable enough. They never pestered him about life as a flower like some others in the city had. Overall, this entire event was unexpectedly pleasant despite him not caring too much for clothes shopping.  
  
Around two hours had passed since their little visit here began. Flowey saw pretty much everything in this place as Papyrus showed him around. He was surprised how entertaining doing practically nothing could be. Of course, he probably was just so deprived of worthwhile things to do that this seemed novel by comparison to drowning in boredom. While contemplating this, Papyrus approached him after briefly walking to the other side of the store. The skeleton held out his hand, opening it to reveal a bow. It was like the ones that came with those suits, but contained a key difference. An intricate vine pattern had been woven into the surface of the traditional design. It suddenly dawned on him why one of the humans wasn't talking for a while. They were making this at the request of Papyrus during that time.  
  
"A GIFT FOR A FRIEND. WE CAN WEAR MATCHING BOWS. MOSTLY MATCHING ANYWAY. THE VINES ARE EXCLUSIVE TO YOURS. I HOPE IT ISN'T TOO PRESUMPTUOUS." Papyrus revealed.  
  
"It's on the house. We honestly owe him at this point anyway." Indigo assured.  
  
This gifting ordeal was way too familiar to something he had done is his previous life. He desperately pushed backed the memories that nearly came flooding back. He might be soulless, but those were still way too painful to think about. He needed to move on from all that.  
  
"It's great! I won't refuse a gift from a friend."  
  
He said, summoning an obnoxiously cheery persona once more. A false saccharine grin plastered to his face. Flowey worried that it might have been too obviously fake for a moment. He had been out of practice for months. This proved unfounded in the end. He used his vines to grasp the bow, retrieving it from the other monsters hand. Manipulating it carefully with them, managed to affix it to his stem body. It fit better than expected. These humans were really great at tailoring.  
  
"IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EMBARRASSING IF I HAD BEEN MISTAKEN ABOUT YOUR FASHION PREFERENCES. THANKFULLY, THAT IS NOT THE CASE." Papyrus stated with relief in his voice.  
  
"It looks great on you, little guy." Violet commented.  
  
Flowey mentally protested that descriptor.  
  
"Yeah. A perfect fit." Indigo added.  
  
With the two humans having contributed their thoughts, Papyrus began to gesture as if thinking about something. These thoughts soon turned to action as he spoke.  
  
"WELL. I'M AFRAID I MUST BE GOING. I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO KEEP."  
  
Flowey assumed this had to end sometime. That time was now. The duo began make their way to the door as the humans said their goodbyes.  
  
"See you later!" Violet said to bid them farewell.  
  
"Bye!" The simpler message belonged to Indigo.  
  
The flower and skeleton monster passed through the threshold of the shop unto the sidewalk. Papyrus swiftly entered the parked vehicle. Looking at Flowey, he offered something.  
  
"I CAN DROP YOU OFF SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY TO EASE YOUR TRAVELING BURDENS."  
  
"No. I'm fine." The newly bow adorned flower responded.  
  
"SEE YOU SOON. SOONER THAN LAST TIME, I HOPE." He stated before departing.  
  
The vehicle quickly rolled on out of view, with Flowey not turning away until it disappeared from sight. He sighed heavily. He was starting to have a really bad idea. He couldn't just waste his entire existence watching over a flower bed or wandering throughout a human city aimlessly. It was time to do something beyond that. He might have lost whatever previous life he might have had, but he could still turn this one around while the chance was there. Frisk's actions gave him an opportunity for redemption. Until now, he had largely squandered that in self-pity. He needed something new. Perhaps he couldn't be Asriel anymore, at least as he used to be, but he could be Flowey. This flower was going to be different than before. He wasn't looking for a pure happy ending or everyone's brutal demise for his own enjoyment. He just resolved to seek an ending he could live with. He wasn't sure exactly where to start, but he guessed the monster town couldn't hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, it begins. This is probably the fic I'm most excited to write at the moment.
> 
> There will be a perspective change after this chapter. I just thought starting on Flowey would be more interesting than with Frisk. Expect them next chapter.
> 
> Also, Indigo is non-binary. (They/Them) I want to make that exceedingly clear. Though you probably avoided this story if you're the type to ignore that.
> 
> Let me know if any errors slipped by me.
> 
> [I'm going to use this end note section to lay out the comment rules as well.]
> 
> 1\. Refer to characters by canon pronouns. (This means you only use they/them on Chara for example.)  
> 2\. Don't complain that I don't follow the evil Chara theory or other similar obnoxiously pervasive fandom ideas.  
> 3\. Be polite. I'm not going to tolerate rude people.
> 
> [I might add more if I see a need for it.]


	2. Life on the Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk visits some of their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a vaguely "slice of life" style chapter. Not entirely sure about that though, the exact meaning of the term eludes me.
> 
> It is a bit shorter than I'd prefer, but I needed to finish it at some point. Enjoy.

A peaceful slumber is interrupted by a voice calling to them, that voice belonging to Toriel.

“Frisk! It is time to get up. You have missed breakfast too many times already.”

They managed to eventually pry their eyes open with great effort, only to be greeted by harsh sunlight passing through the now opened window curtains. The first thing they witness after this unpleasant awakening is Toriel looming over them near the bed. A warm expression with a mildly stern undercurrent is present upon her goat-like features. She seems happy to see their eyes open. They stretch their limbs while still covered by the blanket, moving them around to breathe some life into an unwilling form. Otherwise, getting up would be a fair bit more difficult. From there, they pull the blanket off of their body in preparation to exit the bed. Toriel makes sure to back up from her previous position closer to the bed. Having moved aside, Frisk was now free to step out unto the bedroom floor. They did so, rubbing their eyes a bit in the following seconds. Once their vision was clear, the boss monster addressed them.

“Good. I was worried you’d miss another meal. We should really make sure to avoid this in the future.” Toriel said with a hint of worry. It was a semi-regular habit at this point.

Frisk shrugs, unsure about how well they can hold to that plan. Getting up early was difficult for them to say the least.

Toriel sighs. “I suppose _I_ will be the one making certain this does not happen again. Let us eat for now. I have the meal prepared already.”

The pair walk out of the room, moving through the house toward a dining room adjacent to their kitchen. Once there, both of them set down at the table. A meal had been arranged upon it beforehand by the monster. Toriel and Frisk sit opposite one another. Seats meant for guests flank each side of the table, but are unused at the moment. Frisk takes their place at the usual seat with Toriel following suit immediately afterward. Looking down at the meal before them, they observe that it is a pretty simple offering of french toast. A few pieces are more than enough to satisfy them. This happens to be one of their breakfast favorites, so it won’t be a slow crawl as is the case with some things. There is little they won’t eat, but some things just take them longer. As soon as they have settled fully in the chair, they begin to quickly consume all that is present on the plate. They forget to even say anything to Toriel, since the two often have brief chats during meals. When they look up after the fact, they see her still attempting to finish off her own plate. She silently acknowledges their gaze, but doesn’t say anything at that moment. She had grown used to this happening with certain foods or when the child was in a hurry for whatever reason. As such, it is Frisk that breaks the silence.

“Can I go outside?” They pause, realizing that there was something else to add. “To visit my friends?”

Having only a few bites left on her last piece of toast, she replies.

“Of course. We are fortunate to all live so close to one another. I will walk you over to the place of your choosing.” Her french toast is subsequently eaten to allow her to issue a follow-up to the previous remark. “Which friends did you wish to visit?”

Frisk always thought it was unnecessary for them to be escorted since they got through the entire underground. Even if that was with a bit of help. Plus, it was not like they were a stranger to walking around alone even before that. With that said, they did begin to think about their current situation. They hadn’t seen one of those mysterious stars that allowed them to ‘SAVE’ since freeing the monsters. That meant if something happened to them, they would go all the way back to the immediate aftermath of the barrier breaking. Alternatively, there was the much worse possibility that their death would be permanent the next time. Maybe Toriel guiding them was a good thing, unless it ended up being her that met an irreversible demise. They preferred not to consider that idea.

“Papyrus! Plus Alphys and Undyne after.” They answer with glee despite their earlier considerations.

Toriel finds this acceptable. “That is fine. Just makes sure Papyrus goes with you to their house.”

“Okay.” Frisk responds. That was already going to be the case anyway. Papyrus was joining them as part of a collective activity. Sans refused, as he often did with these things.

“Just make certain you are back before dark.” She cautioned.

Frisk nodded affirmatively in response. Following that, they removed themself from the seat. Now standing up, they moved to the edge of the dining room. They gave Toriel a look indicating their wish to leave when possible. Toriel sighed at their impatience.

“Are you not forgetting something, Frisk?” She hinted.

There was a brief moment that they remained in place, pondering at the meaning of her statement. Upon returning their attention to the table, it became clear what she had meant. They left their plate at the table after eating. Toriel would clean up things on occasion, but Frisk was usually expected to at least put their dishes in the sink. In their haste, they had forgotten this minor duty. Correcting that error, they run up to the table and grab the plate. Then, they take it to the kitchen, giving it a quick rinse under the faucet before placing it into the sink. Obligations fulfilled, they move back to their previous location at the border of the dining room. After a momentary period of waiting while Toriel did much the same, they begin to approach the front door of the home. Toriel trails behind, moving at a far more casual pace. When Frisk reaches the door, they eagerly open it. They stop to allow Toriel to catch up before proceeding any further. She gets there shortly thereafter.

“Let us go. Make sure not to bump into anyone in your excitement. Stay closer to me.” She declares as they begin to leave the house. This is followed by her closing the door behind them.

The neighborhood was arranged in a cul-de-sac formation. This allowed Frisk to easily visit all of their monster friends. Asgore had arranged for it to be so and everyone else agreed to the plan. It was fortunate the humans had given monsters a fairly large amount of freedom to build as they pleased within reason. There were stricter limits on where they could build closer to the city though. That way construction planning conflicts would ideally be avoided. Toriel was glad that humanity's anger from a far more grim era had faded over time. It was only possible to create this place with their blessing, given a few months after the barrier fell. Monster magic in combination with human technology resulted in the rapid construction of the new monster town. Asgore had dubbed it "Hometown" much to the confusion of the humans and to her disappointment. He really needed to appoint a naming committee or something of the kind. She should never have let him name things when she was queen. He would never hear any of her recommendations unless Frisk passed it along though. She hoped to avoid ever seeing his face again. At least, in person. His television appearances were hard to completely avoid. Regardless, helping him wasn’t really worth the trouble. He would have to continue doing things himself. Though monsterkind might be better off adopting the humans current leadership models. 

The two walked along the sidewalk on route to the jovial skeleton's home. The only other person around was a monster attempting to walk a pet turtle with a crude harness strapped to its back. The creature had little interest in the activity, instead merely casually munching on the grass despite encouragement from the monster. Frisk found this to be amusing, as a grin creeped its way onto their face. Toriel made a note to help the monster understand their error after dropping off Frisk. For now, they both carried on. Arriving at the aforementioned destination took barely any time at all. Toriel knocked at the door, this action was then mimicked by Frisk, albeit more quietly due to the size disparity between them. This summoned the occupants within, one of whom opened the door in short order. As was typically the case, the person answering the call was Papyrus.

“AS EXPECTED! I’VE GROWN QUITE SKILLED IN RECOGNIZING EVERYONE'S DOOR KNOCKING PATTERN. IT IS GOOD TO SEE THE BOTH OF YOU.” He exclaimed.

“Like-wise, Papyrus. We are here because Frisk wished to visit. You are not busy, are you?” Toriel responded.

“NO. IN FACT, WE HAVE PLANNED THIS. WELL, ALPHYS DID. WE WILL MEET HER LATER. MY SCHEDULE IS QUITE CLEAR.” He answered.

“I see. Frisk did not elaborate on that point.” She replies, giving Frisk a questioning look.

“Forgot.” Frisk simply offered as their only retort. It was true.

“NO MATTER. I CAN INFORM YOU OF ANY FUTURE PLANS IF NEEDED. IN CASE OUR HUMAN FRIEND IS FORGETFUL ONCE MORE.” The skeleton added.

“It is fine, Papyrus. A simple reminder is all that was needed. I can always call, but it helps to know beforehand.” She said, rejecting the offer.

“SO THEN, I SUPPOSE OUR HANGOUT MAY BEGIN.” All things seemed in order, he thought.

“Yes. Will you be returning them home? You are the one I trust most with that task. I mean no offense to those two, but they can be quite forgetful about taking Frisk home.” She asks, after recalling a few previous visits.

“OF COURSE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN ALWAYS BE RELIED UPON.” He confidently answered.

She pats Frisk on the head, who happily accepts the display of affection. “Thank you. I will see you later then. Goodbye, Frisk.” She says while turning to walk away.

“Bye!” Frisk returns the gesture.

Papyrus turns to Frisk once Toriel has reached the sidewalk on her way back home. “WELL, WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO INSIDE NOW THAT OUR GOODBYES HAVE BEEN ISSUED.” He shifts out of the way to permit the human to access his home.

Frisk takes advantage of this, entering into the living room as Papyrus closes the door behind. Inside was the same as ever. They run over to the couch and jump up onto it. Grabbing the remote, they turn on the television. It is one of Mettaton’s shows as usual. Papyrus never really watched anything else, so it remains on the MTT network all the time. He only ever watches other programming when not at home despite having access to a variety of it on the surface. Alphys had configured all of their TVs to to connect to human networks. Frisk wishes Toriel would get one, but she has yet to do so. All that is playing is a news segment. Since monsters left the underground, MTT news got a new anchor. Mettaton was too busy to host it himself anymore. A different monster replaced him, being selected by the robotic monster personally after a series of auditions for the role. They were generally more genuinely cheerful in how they presented news stories than Mettaton. His bombastic news story format meshed quite with the replacement hosts demeanor though. Despite liking the new host, they began to think about watching something else when Papyrus approached them.

"MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY THIS APPLICATION I GOT FOR THE TELEVISON. ALPHYS RECOMMENDED IT."  
  
He draws closer to them, requesting the remote via a hand gesture. As his arm is extended and hand open in anticipation, they grant the request by handing him the device.  
  
"LET ME SHOW YOU, THEN YOU CAN PICK SOMETHING." He adds.  
  
Using the remote, he opens the previously mentioned application. It is some kind of streaming service. Frisk had watched plenty of programs on such things before. They had largely replaced the kind of old school broadcast networks of the past that monster still used. This one was different in a way Frisk had not expected. It streamed games instead of shows. They had always wanted to use one of these services, but never got the chance. They were a bit confused at how to control it with just a TV remote though. Papyrus began to show them the various games available, often offering his opinion on their quality. Once he was finished, he handed the remote back to Frisk. It was still unclear how this would work as a controller, but they chose to ask something else instead.

“What’s your favorite?” They inquired, honestly being unsure what to play within this vast ocean of options.

“WELL, THERE ARE A FEW I ENJOY QUITE A LOT. ORB OVERRIDE IS TECHNICALLY A FAVORITE OF MINE, BUT I REFUSE TO LIMIT MYSELF TO JUST ONE. IT IS A PUZZLE GAME WHERE ONE MUST REPLACE THE OPPOSING ORBS WITH YOUR OWN.” He answered with an explanation tacked on the end.

They supposed it sound fine. Papyrus liked it, after all. They find it amongst all the other selections, starting the game up shortly thereafter. After it had loaded, Frisk noticed that one of the buttons had lit up. The yellow color of said light made them think that this might be the work of Alphys. Partly out of curiosity, they pressed it. The remote soon floated out of their hand and shifted into a proper video game controller. They marveled at the hybrid device as it returned to their hands. That certainly answered their question.

“AH YES. ALPHYS UPGRADED THE REMOTE. I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT.” Papyrus remarked.

Now that Frisk had a controller, they started to play the skeleton’s recommendation. Though it possessed multiplayer capability, they figured that was beyond their skill level at the moment. They opted to play against computer opponents instead, selecting the easiest setting. Papyrus offered tips and encouragement. It was kind of fun at first, but they soon grew frustrated as defeats began piling up. Puzzles were not their strong suit. They hoped this game might be different, but it clearly was not. Giving up, Frisk played through a few different games just to try each one out. All were more enjoyable to them than that one. Papyrus did not seem disappointed, much to their relief. After all, he did think they were a puzzle lover like him.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT? NOW THAT YOU HAVE TRIED IT FOR YOURSELF. A WONDERFUL CREATION, IS IT NOT?” The monster asked.

“Really good!” Frisk quickly answered. They had enjoyed everything aside from the puzzle game.

“EXCELLENT. I SHOULD ASK ALPHYS IF THE OTHER CONTROLLERS ARE READY THOUGH. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO PLAY WITH A FRIEND OR MULTIPLE FRIENDS.” He added.

The exchange is interrupted by a call. Papyrus swiftly answers his phone. A certain recently mentioned lizard monster is on the other end.

“SO, THINGS ARE READY? I’M STILL SKEPTICAL, BUT I’M SURE FRISK WILL ENJOY IT.” He listens to her response, before continuing. “WE WILL BE THERE SOON.” Hanging up, he turns to Frisk. “ALPHYS IS WAITING ON US. WE SHOULDN’T KEEP HER WAITING.”

“What about Undyne?” They ask with disappointment in their voice.

“SHE IS BUSY, BUT WILL JOIN US LATER.” He explained.

This eased their worries. They do not ask any follow-up questions. Instead, they eagerly jump off the coach and approach the door. Their wait is short since Papyrus is right behind them. The two exit the house, reaching Alphys’ home before long. It is very similar to her lab in the underground, but with far more dedicated living space. This was good since Undyne frequently stayed there despite having her own home. Both kept rooms open for the other, but Alphys was more comfortable in her own home. Papyrus allows Frisk the honor of pressing the doorbell. Alphys is quick to arrive, the door opens and she addresses the duo.

“Come in. I’ve, uh, got everything prepared.”

“WHAT WILL WE BE WATCHING? I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN.” He asked.

“O-oh. It involves giant mechas fighting each other. Undyne was looking forward to it.” She responds. There is a long pause before she notices Frisk’s expression, amending the statement appropriately. “Don’t worry, she’ll be here before the second episode starts.”

That satisfies Frisk, whose is happy to hear it won’t be long before Undyne’s return. They notice that her shirt has a mecha on it, presumably from the very same show they are all about to watch. The group moves into her living room, each of them picking out a place to sit. Papyrus and Frisk each have their own chairs, the one used by the latter being designed for children. Their skeletal counterpart just sits in a recliner. Both of them leave the couch open for Undyne and Alphys. She soon turns on the TV which displays the paused intro sequence. That becomes unpaused for a few seconds before she realizes something and halts it again.

“I forgot the popcorn!” She states in a mildly alarmed manner, as though this matter had greater importance. She rushes out of the room to correct this error. Frisk plays a game on their phone while waiting. It was one of those bubble shooter games that had countless near duplicates that all played much the same. The spheres within it annoyed them far less than those in that puzzle game. They wondered during this time if that game thing could work on their phone somehow. They thought about asking Alphys later, provided they remembered. She seemed to be able to do almost anything with technology. Being a magical being probably helped. As if summoned by that thought, she returns after a short wait with the popcorn. Handing out bowls of the stuff to everyone, then getting back to the couch. The intro resumes once she is situated. Music plays again from where it had left off. Once it is over, Alphys comments upon it.

“Not the greatest song in my opinion.” She says.

“I FOUND IT TO BE QUITE JOYFUL. I AM FAR FROM AN EXPERT ON THESE THINGS THOUGH.” Papyrus adds.

Frisk says nothing, but liked the song. They aren’t sure why Alphys dislikes it, but she is usually pretty opinionated about these shows. Nothing made them inclined to challenge her on the topic. They just enjoyed watching these anime shows with her. The episode goes on into its actual content. It is mostly just about a group of heroes in colorful mechas fighting various threats in a galaxy spanning sci-fi setting. Overall, it was quite lighthearted. Alphys was quick to point out that many other shows in this specific genre are darker in tone. This one was made to appeal more to children. Still tackling certain topics, but in a far less graphic manner. Frisk was largely indifferent to more intense stories, preferring this kind of stuff. The episode ends with the heroic team assembled, as is often the case. Alphys pauses the show before the next one can begin. She gets more popcorn in preparation for Undyne’s arrival. After it is distributed, there is a longer than expected wait. Frisk starts to get nervous about this, but then Alphys mentions that she is here. Exiting the room briefly to allow the other entry, the two monsters enter together. Alphys sits back down as Undyne excitedly greets their guests.

“Hey guys! I can’t believe you got Papyrus to watch with us, Frisk.”

Their only reaction to her comment is a slight grin. Papyrus, however, has something to add.

“IT WOULD BE RUDE TO DENY SUCH AN INVITATION.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve invited you to do this before. So do you only watch anime when Frisk invites you?” Undyne replies with a jokingly accusatory tone.

“CORRECT. I ONLY WATCH BABY CARTOONS WITH BABIES. CHILDREN ARE JUST MILDLY LARGER BABIES I SUPPOSE.” He says confidently, staying committed to his previous stance. Also, maybe just to mess with Undyne a little bit.

“I-! Whatever. Let’s just get started.” Feeling defeated, she gives up. No point in delaying this with an impassioned speech about the subject.

Frisk is a little disappointed when Undyne just lets the opportunity to defend her position slip away. They enjoyed the banter of the two monster friends. Following that brief interaction, Undyne got seated on the couch with Alphys. Now everyone was in place. The collective viewing began once more as the show was unpaused. This next episode involved the previously established team facing a more difficult challenge than the one that brought them together. Undyne loved it, stating that she was glad she skipped to the real action. The third episode was mostly character development focused. Alphys said something about being glad that the writers didn’t oversimplify the content just because it was made for kids. Papyrus was silent, choosing not to offer any opinions, positive or negative. After they had watched three episodes of this anime, the gathering was now over. Alphys reiterated this information to Frisk.

“Ok. That’s it for today.” Alphys reiterated this information to Frisk. “You should probably go home to eat. I don’t want to accidentally give you something Toriel wouldn’t want you eating. Besides, I don’t have that great of a selection anyway.”

“THEN IT IS TIME FOR US TO DEPART, FRISK. GOODBYE, UNDYNE. AND ALPHYS.” He declares in reaction to her statement.

“See ya!” Undyne bids farewell.

“Bye!” Alphys likewise does the same.

Papyrus turns to Frisk, who reluctantly accepts the inevitable. They follow him as he walks to the exit, waving goodbye to Alphys and Undyne. The two return the gesture just before they walk through the door. With the door now closed as they walk back to Toriel’s home, the skeleton monster shares his thoughts.

“THAT WENT WELL. I DON’T THINK I’LL BE WATCHING THOSE CARTOONS IN MY SPARE TIME, BUT THAT ONE WAS MOSTLY FINE. I’LL STICK TO MY NEW FAVORITE VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT GENRE: HUMAN ONLINE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS. SO MANY THINGS TO LEARN.”

The duo now walked back to their planned destination in a casual manner. It isn’t long before they both reach the place. Papyrus loudly knocks on the door. Toriel is quick to answer, greeting the other monster as she does so.

“It is good to see you, Papyrus. If I may ask, what did you all do?”

“Anime!” Frisk shouts before an answer is produced.

“YES. WE WATCHED THESE CARTOONS THAT ALPHYS AND UNDYNE LIKE.” He answered once the human had finished their interjection.

“I see. I was just about to make Frisk something to eat once they got home. I can make you a meal as well if you would like to join us?” She asked.

“OF COURSE. THAT SOUNDS GREAT. I CAN HELP YOU MAKE IT.” He adds.

“That...won’t be necessary. You are my guest, after all.” She quickly said in response to the suggestion. She had heard of his cooking exploits from Sans. While she found it admirable, now was not the time. Perhaps she should be the one giving him lessons, she thought. Another day.

“THEN I WELCOME YOUR HOSPITALITY.” He replied.

From that point, Toriel enters the kitchen to make the meal they will all be having together. Papyrus and Frisk get seated at the dining table, awaiting the foods preparation. When it arrives, the monsters begin to chat over the meal. It is mostly a discussion regarding the antics of Sans, such as the many puns he releases into the world. A lighthearted debate over their quality emerges. The conversation does not last very long though. Everyone finishes eating before too long. Papyrus gets out of his seat to offer a farewell before departing.

“THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL, TORIEL. I SUPPOSE I’LL BE GOING.”

“We both look forward to seeing you again. Is that not correct, Frisk?” Toriel responds.

Frisk gives an enthusiastic affirmative nod as their reply.

The skeleton welcomes the warm reception, even if this is nothing particularly new. After all, the boss monster had become quite good friends with both of the skeleton brothers since the barrier broke.

“GOODBYE, FRISK AND TORIEL. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.” Nothing more was said before he finally exited the house, returning to his own home.

“I imagine you do not have any other planned meetings with friends you forgot to mention. Is that correct, Frisk?” She questioned them after he had left.

They nod to answer her, that answer being no. They did not. Their brief concerns over her seemingly negative response are alleviated quickly by what she says next.

“I hope you tell me of these things in the future. I cannot help you prepare for such a visit if I do not know about it.” She pauses. “Next time, you will be able to stay longer if you do so. I can make food for you to take and gather clothes for you to wear while there. Does that not sound better?” She asks.

The prospect does sound better to Frisk, who is somewhat excited by the idea. “Yes.” They abruptly reply.

“Good. I am glad to hear that.” She smiles slightly whilst speaking.

Not much else happens the rest of the day. Frisk mostly just hangs out with Toriel, listening to her read through a book she is currently enjoying. It has become a regular activity for the both of them since they truly began living with her. They have little interest in reading the books themself, but find Toriel’s narration of the tale enjoyable. There are some things she won’t read for Frisk, but she never entirely avoids the text. She just skips the more graphic elements of it. However, Frisk usually finds those books to be pretty boring anyway. They are interested in fun stories, not whatever ‘political intrigue’ is supposed to mean. They still listen, but Toriel usually picks up on their boredom and changes the book. Typically deciding to read it on her own time. On this specific day, the two manage to get all the way to the end of a book. This is largely due to how long Frisk stayed, keeping their attention on the tale. They did not really feel like doing much else after the friend hangout. It just turned into another boring day after that. Once the story was completed, they noticed that the day was nearly over for them. Toriel rarely allowed them to stay up past a certain point, especially with how long they would sometimes sleep. It wouldn’t be long now before the inevitable.

“Well, it is time for you to rest. I must admit this was a rather uneventful day for me, even by the standards of my time in the ruins. All the more reason to usher in the next one.”

Frisk follows Toriel’s suggestion with no resistance. They had no real reason to stay up any longer, so they might as well. They begin by brushing their teeth, making all other necessary preparations afterward. Their goat-like caretaker bids them goodnight once they are done and have settled into bed. She leaves the room after flipping the light switch, only silence remains in her absence. As they lie awake in bed before sleeps grips them, a few restless thoughts run through their mind. Foremost among these is the fate of the narrator that seemed to guide them along their journey within the underground. They were not always the most helpful at times, but their aid was invaluable to Frisk. Without it, they likely would have died many more times. Possibly even met the same end that befell the other human children after Asgore’s declaration. The thought of who the narrator was had always intrigued them. They wondered at times if they were a mysterious monster, largely due to their knowledge of the underground and the beings that inhabited it. They refused to rest until this mystery was solved. Thinking back, they realized something. The narrator had acted weird during their encounters with every current or former member of the Dreemurr family. Not only that, but they heard Asgore’s voice every time before their SAVE loaded. Those must have been some of his final words to a certain person. It only made sense as a memory of the first fallen human, they thought. They had no idea how that all worked, but they did not care. The point was that the narrator had to be Chara. Frisk saw no other reasonable answer. They resolved to find out more when they got out of bed the next day. That would probably mean ignoring Toriel’s rules, which they typically did their best to follow. This was a different circumstance though, so they figured it had to be done.

They would try to start their investigation of the matter tomorrow. Now that they had something of a potential answer, Frisk let themself gradually drift into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will likely be posted sooner than I usually would after this one.
> 
> I should note that I've set this story in 211x. I just felt it made the most sense based on various stuff within the game. As a result, human technology is more advanced than modern day stuff. You'll see more of that in future chapters. I would also consider this to be set on a "near-earth". A world very similar to ours in a lot of respects, but different in others. I know a lot of fics are basically set in an alternate version of our world, but I wanted to try something different.
> 
> The game Papyrus suggested was based on this flash game: http://www.andkon.com/arcade/puzzle/hexxagon/  
> Think of it like a more professionally developed version of the same thing. Just Google what bubble shooter games are if unaware. There are a ton of them.
> 
> You can find me on social media if you wish.  
> My Twitter account: https://twitter.com/CosmicSeptem  
> My Tumblr Blog: https://stellarseptem.tumblr.com/
> 
> Be sure to inform me of any errors in the text and I will correct them.


	3. When You Call My Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk seeks out Flowey and makes a new friend along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This where things get moving properly. The first two chapters kind of just eased us into the post-pacifist setting.
> 
> Also, it is worth noting that this Hometown bears no resemblance to the one in Deltarune aside from name. I merely thought it was a nice little tie-in. The two places are actually quite different though. Probably a good thing since DR Hometown feels off in many regards. Something is up with it. Enough theory stuff though, I just wanted to explain that.

Having finished their breakfast, Frisk left the house. They told Toriel that they would be visiting a friend. A necessary lie. When pressed for further details, they said that it was going to be Papyrus’ place. She accepted this, but gave a strict deadline for their return. The deadline gave them plenty enough time to do what they had planned. The sudden departure of that mysterious narrator had been pretty upsetting. They never returned, even when Frisk went back to the underground on occasion. Losing a friend that they had only recently met was disheartening after the events surrounding Asriel. Given their newfound belief that it was Chara, the fact that it coincided with the monsters freedom made sense though. Their goal was to free them, so they likely felt no longer needed. The thought that they had permanently disappeared in some way deeply unsettled Frisk. Their resolve strengthened in an attempt to combat this feeling. Determination, as the voice often referenced.

It was reasonable that Flowey might be able to help them with this in some way. Telling him about this seemed to be a great idea. The two of them together could figure out where Chara might still linger. If they were a ghost then, surely they still existed in some form. With that in mind, they made their way to Mt. Ebott. The place that had once held all of monsterkind within its confines. With the way he had talked before, Flowey probably stayed behind. Frisk believed he would most likely be found in the ruins. It was the perfect place for a monster that didn’t want to interact with others. The ruins had become very desolate since everybody started moving to the surface. Hopefully, he hadn’t sat near that flowerbed this whole time. That would be depressing. They ran through the entire underground as swiftly as possible to save time. Checking up on things could wait for another day. It was fortunate Asgore was usually too busy with his kingly duties anymore to be here during the day. His presence would have been an unwanted complication. After an incredibly rushed journey back through the rest of the cavernous former home of monsterkind, they had reached the ruins as intended. Passing through the empty home that Toriel had previously inhabited was ever so slightly melancholy. No human child would pass through here in the same way again. Of course, that was for the best. The history of the place just made it a little haunting.

They moved on at the previously established pace after that little distraction. In a flash, they had returned to the place that was their first experience of the underground. Sunlight poured in from above as it always had. A familiar patch of flowers was still present, being nourished by the aforementioned light. Flowey was nowhere to be seen. They thought he must be elsewhere in the ruins. They had run by everything else pretty fast. Frisk begins to search the entire area for the former prince. After spending a good chunk of time doing this, they find nothing. Their thorough investigation had yielded no meaningful results. Following this, they begin to do the same everywhere else. The only exception was the old lab under her former lab. Alphys had shut everything down there. This included the very elevator that permitted one access to it. As such, it probably didn’t matter anyway. That being said, Flowey was rather crafty when it came to moving around. But they could not conceive of any reason he would stay in that place without any lights at all. He was still a flower, right? If he had reactivated the generator, they’d know. It was still offline, so that couldn’t be where he went. Scouring the underground for him proved unsuccessful. He didn’t seem to be there, but they could have missed something. They were rushing this given the limited time available. It eventually was close to their return window. Defeat had to be accepted. They would need to do this another day. Their disappointment was palpable. Where did he even go if he wasn’t down in the underground? Him deciding to go to the surface made some amount of sense, but would require him to risk being seen by others. Something he clearly sought to avoid in their last meeting. His departure meant there was hope he might be more amenable to joining them on the surface with their other friends. The main question was where he went. He could be anywhere.

Having given up on this particular adventure, they returned home to Toriel. The walk back from Ebott was considerably lacking in enthusiasm compared to their hopeful one on the way there. Their monster parent greeted them back with a warm welcome.

“Frisk! I have made some pie for you! It has been a while since I last made this kind.”

The unmistakable scent of butterscotch-cinnamon pie filled the air. It was a relief after what they had spent the day doing. They gladly took a seat at the dining table, signaling to Toriel their decision to eat now. She brought a slice to them shortly afterward. They eagerly consumed the offering without delay. The experience was slightly different than before, given that this pie was still warm. This had only been their second time eating one. They were glad it was even better this time.

“Thanks!” Frisk said to Toriel once finished.

“It is no problem. I would have made more if I were not distracted by all this surface business. Now that things have settled down, I will make it on more regular occasions. Don’t expect it every day though!” She responded.

Frisk was happy to get more even if only on rare occasions. Her declaration at the end didn’t bother them. Their thoughts began to drift back to Flowey, or rather Asriel, and Chara. They know that it was possible they wouldn’t be able to do anything. Things weren’t so bad overall, but it did not seem fair for those two to not share in this happy ending. Life was not always fair though. Helping everyone else was only possible because of Asriel. Everybody would still be underground without him. If he refused to help them find Chara, that was it for this idea. They were prepared to accept that, but figured it was worth a try. Toriel’s words pulled them out of their thoughts.

“I am surprised Papyrus did not come in. He usually does so when bringing you back home.”

“He was busy. He says hi though.” They attempt to convincingly cover up their true actions. This same thing had actually happened before, so they hoped it would work.

“Unfortunate. He is always a welcome sight.” She replied, seemingly believing what Frisk had said.

They were never asked about the subject further after that. If she did suspect something to be off, she did not say anything about it. Frisk was thankful it all went smoothly. Getting in trouble might complicate their future search efforts. Life simply continued on in the same manner it had before this adventure.

* * *

After lacking any ideas for several days, their efforts would pick back up the following week. Standing in front of a familiar laboratory house door, they pressed the doorbell mounted adjacently to it. The characteristic skittering of a certain lizard monster’s feet telegraphed her arrival. The door subsequently opened and she greeted Frisk.

“What did you want, Frisk? It seemed like you were in a rush to get here or something.” Alphys found their behavior a bit odd. They were rarely in such a hurry, so they must think this is important.

“Science help.” Frisk replied quickly, but without elaboration.

“Like with school work?” The monster questioned. She had helped them on occasion with such things. Toriel even suggested she become a teacher, but she declined the offer.

“No. Another thing.” They answered. Their vagueness was a symptom of their worry that Alphys might not want to help Flowey. She had seemed afraid of him before he absorbed every soul in the underground back then.

“W-well, come in so you can explain.” She stated. It would be better than talking while waiting outside.

Alphys let Frisk in, pressing the button so that the door closed behind them. “I guess we might as well go to the lab.” She added.

The two walked to the massive lab section of the home. It was very similar to her old lab, but lacking an elevator and monitoring screen. They both end up standing next to the computer desk. Alphys sits down at the desk, Frisk simply stands nearby. The lizard monster is the first to speak up.

“So what kind of ‘science help’ did you need? D-did you want me to make something?”

“Maybe.” They cryptically answered, unwilling to volunteer further information at the moment.

“What exactly?” She inquired. This kid sure was being cagey right now. That made it hard to help if she didn’t know what they wanted.

“Don’t know. Need to help a friend.” The human responded.

“Which friend?” Alphys followed up. She figured it must be someone outside of their regular friend group. All of them knew one another, so Frisk would have no reason to be so reluctant. Maybe it was a kid they’d recently befriended.

“You won’t like it.” Frisk retorted ominously. They knew her reaction would be less than positive.

“I’m sure it’ll be f-fine. So who am I supposed to be helping?” She reassured. No friend of the human could be that bad.

“Flowey.” They offered, not completely sure if she even recognized the name.

“T-the flower? That’s your friend?! We are both thinking about the same...person, r-right?” She said, sounding more alarmed than had been intended. Alphys most certainly did not expect that would be their answer. It was unlikely the name was a coincidence.

Frisk gives an affirmative nod of their head. “You were scared of him, so I wasn’t gonna tell you.” This was what they hoped to avoid.

“S-sorry! I just...don’t know how to feel about him.” She replies. Briefly pausing before appending the statement with a reassurance. “I’ll s-still help though. I was responsible for creating him after all.” It was time to deal with another of her failures. Thankfully, she was past the point of hiding from them. She couldn’t say she was entirely enthusiastic about this given what he’d done. But most of them had attacked Frisk or put them in harms way at some point. It was hardly her place to judge.

A wave of relief washed over Frisk. “Thanks!” They exclaimed in response.

“So, how am I supposed to be h-helping him?” She inquired. Frisk was not very clear on details, but that seemed to be changing.

Their answer was short and to the point. “Need to find him.” They were sure Alphys was the one who could find him. Something in her lab might aid them.

“M-maybe I can make something to track him? He is rather u-unique, after all. Just need to figure out what I’d need for it.” She pauses for a bit, lost in thought. It wasn’t exactly an easy problem to solve. Even the best device would likely only be able to give vague information. They would need a sample plucked from his flowery form to track precisely. “I guess you can wait here while look for the right materials. The TV remote is just sitting on the coffee table, so you c-can watch that for now.” She shakes her head in an effort to refocus. Frisk follows her suggestion without comment.

The clattering of tools and other metallic items was fairly constant as they watched an episode of a random anime they thought might be enjoyable. It was a bit hard to focus entirely on the show though. They were really hoping this would work out. Regret was not a feeling they wished to have in this ‘happy ending’. Their viewing was interrupted about halfway through the next episode by Alphys. She walked in to the room, sweating a fair bit from what must have been pretty frantic work.

“I think I-I have...a solution. But we need...t-to go back to the underground.” She explained, clearly worn out from the effort.

Frisk frowned a bit at the monster's current state. “We should wait. You look tired.” They replied in a concerned tone.

Alphys brushes this off. “I-I’ll be fine. I still need to make this right. Besides, I’ve w-worked a lot harder than this before. Engineering is quite the effort when you m-make the stuff yourself.” She thought back to her difficulties creating Mettaton’s body. That was worse than this in her estimation.

“Okay.” Frisk accepted that. They were still worried, but trusted her to know her limits.

“Did you want to go with me? As long as you don’t mind walking around that c-creepy old lab, I can take you along. We shouldn’t be there too long.” She inquired. They hadn’t had the best introduction to that place, so clarifying that little detail was important.

They nod their head to say yes. “Let’s go!” They stand up following that statement, determined as ever to see this through.

Alphys doesn’t say anything in response, merely accepting their answer at face value. She was too focused to bother double-checking. They both travel outside to Alphys’ car. Once inside, they begin the drive to the mountain. That is, after Frisk receives a reminder to buckle their seatbelt. Alphys didn’t want to potentially hear anything from Toriel. The trip is rather short given Ebotts proximity to Hometown. Both of them exit the vehicle, walking up to the entrance of the Underground. Their journey to Alphys’ former lab is unceremonious. When the two of them arrive, Alphys walks inside and flicks a switch to turn the lights back on. No need to have them on when she didn’t use this place anymore.

“Come on in.” The lizard monster says afterward. As Frisk does so, Alphys makes her way over to the computer still housed at the desk. She had acquired a new one before settling into her new home. “I hope this works.” She adds as the computer boots up. “I installed some stuff to allow remote access to the old lab’s generator. That way I can easily turn it on and off. Its worked so far.” With that, she enters a command into the computer and presses enter. A message pops up on the console informing her of its success:

‘SUBLEVEL LAB GENERATOR ONLINE. NO ERRORS DETECTED.’

“Great!” She says with a surprising amount of excitement. “I’m glad this works better than the first few times I tried. It used to give me weird errors all the time.”

She then steps away from the computer, moving toward the elevator. Frisk silently follows along just like before. Nothing but the hum of the elevator can be heard once they enter. Unlike like Frisk’s last ride in this particular elevator, the descent is without incident. The door opens to a marginally better lit lab than was previously the case.

“We, um, installed some new lights to make this place less eerie. It’s still pretty dim overall though. No use doing too much since I barely used this area anyway. And t-that was before we even left for the surface.” Alphys felt the need to explain, but didn’t really say anything that Frisk couldn’t have already inferred.

After that little acknowledgment, the two of them made their way into the lab. The lights didn’t really help much with reducing the unsettling atmosphere of this place, but at least it was easier to see. Upon entry into the lab proper, they both navigate its hallways to the room where monsters that had fallen down once ‘rested’. Frisk sat down on one of the beds while Alphys continued on to the room where the flowers were held. Alphys noted that the flowers were still in the same condition as they had been since she left. Another monster had been appointed to the task of caring for them until she could figure out what to do with them. They had clearly been doing a good job.

“This m-might take a little while!” She said plenty loudly enough for the human in the nearby room to hear. Realizing she might have overdone it a bit, she tones the volume down. “I think I-I can use these flowers to build something to track F-Flowey. They are, uh, similar enough that it s-should work.”

Frisk got the message. Now they just had to wait until she created the device that would help them resolve this. Even just telling him about Chara might make things just a little better. They weren’t really sure how they could reasonably wish for much more than the two interacting once more. Bringing back the dead was a little ambitious. Getting the two of them to potentially speak and find closure was enough for them. Too much misplaced hope could be a bad thing, as they had learned from experience. The sound of Alphys at work entertained them for a time, but they began to grow restless in waiting. They chose to check out the room with the video tapes yet again. When they got there, the tapes were all missing. Alphys must have moved them to the new lab so nobody would stumble upon them. Had she shown them to the Toriel and Asgore? They thought it would have made sense, given her commitment to not keeping secrets. The real answer eluded them for now. Asking her seemed like a bad idea as well, so that would have to remain a mystery. They left the room since it no longer held anything worth their time.

Frisk reexamined the DT extractor found right outside the previous room. On their way to that room, they had only given it a brief glance. Now they settled their eyes on it long enough to get a good look. Many of the finer details of the machine were easier to make out in this lighting. It remained as creepy as it always had been though. Nothing changed in that department. There wasn’t really anything else to bother revisiting. The rest of this place was just a dingy old lab, no different than before. As such, they began to make their way back to where Alphys had been. She was no doubt almost done with whatever she was doing. Turning around to face the hallway, something was different. There was an uncomfortably familiar door affixed to the wall just beyond the bathroom. It’s colorless nature made it conspicuously stand out. Exactly like the one they’d encountered in Waterfall. The door’s presence filled them with both dread and excitement at once. They weren’t really sure how to feel. They had never been able to talk to that mystery person. Maybe they could succeed in doing so now. That being had to be some kind of monster. No human looked like that obviously. With a degree of caution, they approach the door. Standing in front of it, they slowly turn the handle, pushing the door open afterward. What lies within is an office of some kind. Moving inside, a computer desk sits against one of the walls, the rest being lined with bookshelves. Getting a closer look at the books reveals nothing about their contents. Every single one has titles written using a strange set of symbols. Frisk opens one up, to see if the actual text is any different. It is not, just more of those same symbols. They decide that the computer housed inside the aforementioned desk might have something on it. Though imagine that it will likely be just like the books. The mysterious individual from the other door is nowhere to be found in here. Getting close to the computer, they press what they assume to be its power button. This assumption proves correct since it begins to boot up. An image of the Delta Rune appears on the screen with the strange symbols above and below it. This disappears after a brief period and other symbols take its place. They shifted into more legible text, revealing it to be a prompt of some kind. The prompt reads:

‘WHAT ADJECTIVE INDICATES THE HIGHEST PRAISE A NAVAL OFFICER CAN RECEIVE?’

The question baffled Frisk. They were utterly confused. An attempt at giving an answering is made, perhaps in vain. They type out their best guess.

‘Seaworthy’

The screen responds with the text:

‘INCORRECT’

They try to think of an alternate response, but something stops them. The question prompt screen fades away to one that is completely blank. However, this soon changes. A message appears on the screen.

‘AN ADMIRABLE EFFORT.’

Frisk starts to type out a reply, but then sees another message on the screen.

‘THERE IS NO NEED. I CAN HEAR YOU.’

That didn’t really help with their level of unease, but they chose to take the message at its word.

“Who are you?” Frisk inquired vocally.

‘YOU ALREADY KNOW. I AM W. D. GASTER.’

“The one those grey people talked about?” They added.

‘THE VERY SAME. WE HAVE MET BRIEFLY.’

“That was you in Waterfall.” The human asserted.

‘INDEED. THOUGH NOT IN MY ENTIRETY.’

“Why do you want to talk now? What happened to you?” Frisk questioned further. This might be their only chance if he disappeared again.

‘AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. YOU ALREADY POSSESS THE SECOND ANSWER THOUGH.’

There is a pause in which Frisk is about to say something more, but another message appears before they can.

‘YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING. THAT IS WHY.’

“What did I do?” The statement was incredibly vague. Was Gaster referring to their role in breaking the barrier?

‘SIMPLE. YOU AND THE PRINCE HAVE CAUSED A DIVERGENCE. ONE OF NOTABLE SIGNIFICANCE.’

“We messed with time?” They continued, still lost.

‘YOU BOTH HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT. MANY TIMES OVER. THIS IS NOT THE SAME. IT MEANS THE ‘ENDING’ YOU SEEK IS IN SIGHT. NOT CONSTRAINED BY BASELINE LIMITATIONS.’

“You’re saying I can help them?” Frisk said with a cautious degree of hope. They don’t see how he could know such things.

‘NOT PRECISELY. MANY OUTCOMES ARE POSSIBLE. SOME UNDESIRABLE TO YOU.’

“Why’d you say it then?” They frown slightly while speaking.

‘BECAUSE IT IS A WONDERFUL THING. TO BE UNBOUND.’ Another distinct pause. ‘PERHAPS I CAN OFFER YOU ADVICE.’

“To help find Chara or Asriel?” They ask.

‘MORE THAN THAT. I KNOW WHERE THE FALLEN HUMAN RESIDES.’

“What?! How?” Their voice betrays how invested they’ve got in this little quest. It made them a little embarrassed upon hearing themself. This all must be somewhat selfish on their part.

‘I KNEW THEM IN LIFE. AFTER THE TRAGEDY, TORIEL TOOK THEIR BODY WITH HER.’

“Where are they?” The fact that he evidently knew Chara made them a little more comfortable with this bizarre situation. He was just another monster.

‘IN THE FLOWERBED WITHIN THE RUINS. WHERE YOU FIRST ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND. THEY PERSIST IN THE SAME FORM THAT AIDED YOU.’

“Okay. Thanks!” The human replies. They assumed his weird state of being granted him the ability to see these kinds of things. Maybe he had just visited Toriel and found out? They doubted she’d have allowed that though.

‘WAIT. IT IS NOT SO SIMPLE. YOU CANNOT SPEAK TO THEM. NOT WITHOUT A PREREQUISITE ACTION.’

Prerequisite was not a word they heard often, but they had a good enough idea about its meaning. There is only silence as Frisk awaits further explanation.

‘YOU MUST SAY THEIR NAME. IT MUST BE DONE NEAR THE FLOWERS AND WITH INTENT.’

“That’s all?” They say incredulously. Surely there was more to this. Some magical thing that would get their ghostly attention or something. They must have been separated from Frisk somehow. A severing of the connection the two had must have occurred. That was the reason the two hadn’t interacted after Frisk’s departure from the underground. Why on earth would just calling their name fix that?

‘I HAVE NO REASON TO MISLEAD.’

“If it works, that’s fine. I guess.” Ordinarily one would not trust the words of a random stranger like this. However, Frisk had good experience with monsters, so it felt reasonable. Not like they had any better plans. Even if this didn’t work, it would be completely harmless.

‘EXCELLENT. THIS WILL NOT BE OUR LAST MEETING. I LOOK FORWARD TO AIDING YOU IN THE FUTURE.’

“I want to talk more!” Gaster had no need to rush, Frisk thought.

‘APOLOGIES. CERTAIN MATTERS REQUIRE MY ATTENTION. DOCTOR ALPHYS SHOULD PROVE TO BE OF GREAT ASSISTANCE.’

Following his final words, the screen fades into darkness. Even the power light was off now. Frisk attempted to press the button multiple times without any success. He unfortunately retained much of his mysterious nature, leaving them without many answers. The way those strange grey monsters had talked about him in the past didn’t help. All they had learned from this was that he knew Chara. Still, Frisk believed that he couldn’t be that bad. There was probably more to the story. They hadn’t exactly been fond of Flowey until he helped them get a better ending. Even that ended up bittersweet given what happened after he had done so. Ultimately, he tried to do the right thing in the end. All the monsters were like that. That being said, they did have the benefit of unlimited lives back then. They could only hope for the best in the end. If this worked out, they would have even more reason to trust him. He did say he intended to help. Since nothing was left for them in this room, they vacated it in short order. As soon as the door to it closed, the whole thing vanished. They turned around to find only an empty wall. It was about time they return to see what Alphys had managed to do in their absence. She was still inside the flower room, fiddling with some sort of machine. It suddenly sprung to life upon their arrival, lighting up various parts of the device. The lizard monster admired her handiwork with a surprisingly amount of pride. Frisk hadn’t really seen her like this too often. Though they hadn’t watched her make things much before, so that probably explained it. Noticing their presence, Alphys speaks up.

“O-Oh, you’re back! Not sure why you’d want to wander around here, but it w-wouldn’t be the first time. I made...something. It looks like it can detect these flowers just fine. Hopefully, that means it will work on Flowey.” She stops for a moment to gather herself. Taking a moment to breath. “I just need to set it to also detect determination. There were s-some leftover experimental components for the extractor I never used which should help with that. It’s why we had to go here specifically. Probably helps that these f-flowers grew about the same time h-his did too.”

More good news, Frisk supposed. They weren’t sure what to do now that they had this thing at their disposal. Even if it worked as intended, they couldn’t be entirely sure of the outcome. Whether or not they’d be able to convince him to stick around was up in the air. He might not believe what they say about Chara. Nevertheless, they figured that pressing on had been a successful strategy so far. No reason to give up now.

“Cool! How will it work?” Frisk asked her.

“Well, you’d need to get within range to find him. I-I made it as wide as possible, but there are limits. We could make more, that way other monsters can help us look. If that’s okay with you?” The scientist replied. She had her doubts, but figured the kid didn’t need any pessimism.

“Yeah! Good.” They enthusiastically responded, quietly hoping the trouble would be worth it. Frisk did not wish to inconvenience any monsters too much. Monsterkind had already done so much for them. They guessed revealing his true identity would no doubt hasten his discovery, but that felt very wrong.

“Great! We should be getting back home then.” Alphys suggested.

“Fine.” Frisk realized that their wasn’t enough time to test out what Gaster had told them. They had to wait, much to their inconvenience. Testing the limits of Toriel’s patience was a bad idea unless absolutely necessary. Rules would have to be broken another time. When Alphys was not involved.

The duo walk back from the lab to the car, bypassing a good chunk of the underground through elevator use. Frisk considers informing Alphys about Gaster. However, they decide not to after some consideration. She could just be told later. They might as well get out a few other big revelations while their at it. That is, when the time comes. For now, they were just going to get home and relax. Everything was going well. Alphys drops them off directly in front of Toriel’s home. She watches to ensure they actually enter the house, then leaves. Frisk hears the sound of her vehicle’s engine gradually drift away after they are inside.

“Back!” They pronounced loudly, despite the fact that their adoptive mother likely already knew. She generally picked up on the sounds of their entry, it wasn’t like they were very stealthy.

“What was your visit like?” Toriel inquired. Frisk concocted a false version of events from a patchwork of things that happened on previous hangouts with Alphys. There was little reason for the goat monster not to believe them.

* * *

A couple days passed before they had a chance to carry out a part of their plan again. Restless waiting contributed to a questionable number of hours asleep. It was enough to keep them going though. As before, they left the house after breakfast. This time it began a bit later than the previous solo adventure though. Toriel prevented their immediate departure. Once released, they were free to embark on yet another lone journey through the underground. However, they managed to bother asking some monsters about Chara along the way. Only Gerson had anything noteworthy to say. He mentioned that they had a thing for plants, that they always loved to talk about the subject. He claimed that such one conversation with them on the matter last a couple of hours. If he was remembering right, so he said. The turtle monster found amusement in the fact. He ended the discussion with a positive appraisal of their character. The topic of their death was avoided. Frisk was fine with that, not wanting to darken his pleasant mood. Frisk was happy to have gathered some additional knowledge.

It didn’t take long before they had reached a familiar place. The flowers that somehow broke their fall. Looking around, with Flowey still absent, they followed the instructions of the former royal scientist. They yelled out the name of the fallen human, fervently wishing for some result of significance.

“Chara!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might be a bit early to pull out the Gaster card, but I don't really feel bound by convention. If you want a super spooky Gaster that hides away until later, that is your choice. I won't be doing that. Also, that prompt his computer gives has its answer within the first sentence Gaster actually speaks. Not too hard to figure out I hope.
> 
> As always, please point out errors that I might have missed in editing. Just be polite about it. Formatting tips would be appreciated as well. I'm still pretty new to this site.
> 
> You can find my social media accounts linked in my AO3 profile if interested. Not going to bother linking them. It looks ugly anyway.
> 
> [I'm going to use this section to lay out the comment rules as well.]
> 
> 1\. Refer to characters by canon pronouns. (This means you only use they/them on Chara for example.)  
> 2\. Don't complain that I don't follow the evil Chara theory or other similar obnoxiously pervasive fandom ideas.  
> 3\. Be polite. I'm not going to tolerate rude people.
> 
> [I might add more if I see a need for it.]


	4. You Can Always Come Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk awakens Chara.
> 
> Flowey finds a new place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got completed rather quickly. Don't start expecting that every time though. I honestly worry this is rushed, but I always feel that way about my fics. Even when I take forever to get a single chapter done. I'm just worried I'll never get this finished if I don't publish something that is decent at the very least. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Their wish was granted. Surprisingly, the first fallen human appeared as a visible presence. No longer just a voice. The other human’s new form was spectral in nature, mostly a transparent red color matching that of their soul. There were also hints of other colors, faint reminders of what they looked like in life. Floating above the ground, Chara looked around the room and spotted Frisk. They looked like they had just been unwillingly pulled out of a restful sleep.

“It worked!” Frisk shouted in excitement, nearly leaping into the air in joy.

Chara jumped slightly at the sudden disruption of the prevailing silence. Unsure of what Frisk meant, they continue to observe without saying a word.

“I can see you now! You’re Chara.” They added. The figure before them was a perfect match for the person in those family photos. Frisk had succeeded in finding one of the two siblings.

The realization that they were perceptible immediately alarmed them. “How did you do that?!”

“I just listened to what the spooky guy said.” Frisk explained. Gaster certainly qualified for the description, even if he had helped them out.

“Who is this ‘spooky guy’ exactly?” Chara inquired, genuinely unable to conceive of a possible answer at the moment.

“Gaster. He knows a lot, like Alphys.” They stated casually.

That wasn’t the answer they’d expected, but they honestly weren’t sure what to expect. Asriel doing this in his current state made no sense. “I see. Why did he tell you that in the first place?”

“To find you. I figured out it was you that helped me back then. Gaster told me where you were. Said I had to call your name.” Frisk explained, somewhat worn out by the end. They preferred to be brief.

“I figured you would want to find me eventually. I don’t understand why he got involved though.” Chara responded. Gaster never did things without a reason. Frustratingly so, in fact. Him aiding them didn’t seem too strange, but there must be more to it.

Frisk shrugged their shoulders, lacking any real comment on the Gaster issue. They chose to instead to reference the other topic. “You should go with me. Better than here.”

“Here was fine until you woke me up. Ever heard of the phrase ‘peace of the grave’?” Chara retorted dismissively. They refused to let the other human know that they had secretly waited for something like this to happen. At least, a part of them did. Other parts of them, not so much.

Frisk frowned a bit at the remark. “It’ll be like when you helped me. An adventure.”

“No, it won’t. You don’t need my help anymore.” They halfheartedly insisted, honestly just testing Frisk’s conviction at this point.

Frisk’s frown became a scowl.“Asriel does.” It was a bit of a low blow, but they had come too far for this to fail.

That destroyed the mild level of amusement gained from messing with the other human. “Wonderful idea. It ended _so_ well the last time.” They replied sarcastically. “I have better one. I will go with you, but only to watch over the monsters. Humanity doesn’t have the best track record with them.”

Frisk did not appreciate the pessimistic sarcasm, but was glad to have gotten somewhere. “Fine.” Now they just had to find the other sibling.

“I am glad to have reached an agreement.” Chara’s tone shifted briefly to a more neutral, diplomatic one.

“Let’s go then. Almost out of time.” They said with a degree of urgency not present before.

“I imagine Toriel is unaware of this little adventure, correct?” The spectre quickly surmised.

“Yep. Come on.” Frisk didn’t feel like extending this dialogue any more.

Chara silently accepted this. On the trip back, they realized that the magical connection between the two had returned. No doubt due to what Gaster had told Frisk to do. How did he know that? They really needed to find out. Now it was much like the time during Frisk’s journey through the underground. Back then, they were tethered to one another more closely. That connection had faded after Asriel shattered the barrier. It was unclear exactly why or how that happened, but it did. Chara had been glad for this at first, but soon found that existing as a ghost-like being forever was not ideal. Maybe it was their own desire to be separate from Frisk that caused it. Their strange connection was almost entirely gone by the time Frisk returned to the underground again. It was so faint that they could no longer communicate with the other human. They began to wish that their adventures with Frisk could be relived. In fact, they had done more than merely wish. More than once, they choose to reset the timeline. In order to have some purpose. What else could they do besides invisibly persist? They were evidently not allowed to truly die. It seemed that the universe had played some kind of cruel joke on them. Each time, they tried and failed to let Frisk go. However, that ran its course after several resets. After a point, they felt disgusted that they’d ever done it in the first place. This timeline was to be the last one. They should have just listened to Asriel’s plead in the first place. They were unsure how Frisk would react to this, as they had forgotten with each reset just like the others. Not telling them would be irresponsible, cowardly even. As such, Chara reminded themself to do just that. Right now was a poor time, but it needed to happen soon enough. The other human would perhaps see them for who they really were then.

They both returned home to Toriel’s house together, appearing as merely one individual to anybody else. Chara was quite fond of being imperceptible to most. The fact that Frisk could see them now was less than ideal. Being a mysterious voice was far superior to this situation in their opinion. Upon entry, Frisk received the typical ‘welcome home’ greeting from Toriel. She then added that there was a guest present right afterward. Walking into the living room, that guests identity was made clear. Sans was sitting on the couch, while Toriel sat facing him in the reading chair on the other end of the room. The boss monster focused her attention on Frisk as soon as they entered the room. Sans did the same, but in a slower, more casual manner. As though the act required effort he did not wish to expend.

“Sans and I were just discussing Papyrus’ job as ambassador to monsterkind. You may listen if you like, but I imagine most children would not be interested in such things.” Toriel explained.

Frisk just shrugs and sits down in a chair near Toriel. Chara secretly loomed nearby them, unseen to others.

“how’s alphys? heard you two have been hanging out recently.” Sans asks them knowingly.

“Good. She wanted to show me sciencey things.” Frisk stated with confidence to challenge him.

“sounds like her.” Sans replied, not interested in pursuing this further.

“It is good to see you developing an interest in scientific matters. You could learn a lot from her.” Toriel added. Alphys had made some pretty big mistakes in her eyes, but she clearly worked hard to atone for them. Unlike a certain king, whose sins were far greater.

Frisk didn’t add anything to this, the room was silent for the briefest of intervals.

Sans picked up on the developing awkward silence, choosing to stop it before it could truly begin. “papyrus says that human ambassador lady wants to meet again. something important.”

“I see. I hope it is nothing gravely serious.” Toriel said. She would elaborate more, but preferred not to worry Frisk with such things. Some humans had not been as amicable as the majority.

The skeleton was more direct in his speech. “someone is going to eventually wonder where those kids went. that won’t be an easy question to answer. at least, not for asgore.”

“That is a problem of his own making. However, I do worry that other monsters might pay for his actions. No matter how much of the responsibility he takes for them.” She supposed her reluctance did not matter too much anymore. Sans had dived right into heavier topics anyway.

“well, i’m sure my brother will do his best whatever happens. he’s got a talent for diplomacy.” Sans always had faith in his brother, even when others might not.

“It would seem so. Most humans view him quite favorably. He even claimed there was a ‘fan club’ dedicated to him, though I am not too familiar with the phrase.” She stated in mild agreement.

“it’s just a group for people that like the same thing. in this case, papyrus is that thing. guess he got what he wanted.” Sans explained.

“I must admit that I often feel out of touch with so many things. My distance as a member of the royal family and later self-exile did not help this.” Toriel replied. “I will try to correct this in the future. Perhaps Alphys can help.” The lizard monster was quite knowledgeable in such matters, she thought.

“yeah. probably.” Sans didn’t bother informing her just how much Alphys would tell her. He’d made the mistake of saying an anime she hated was okay once. She certainly wasn’t lacking in the strong opinions department. Toriel could handle it though.

“Then that is who I shall consult.” She said.

Sans stretched a bit, before getting up from his place on the couch.“i should be getting back home. papyrus texted me about a guest coming over. not sure what that’s about.”

“Then we will see you another day. Farewell.” Toriel says in response.

Frisk decides to speak up as well. “Bye.”

“see ya.” Sans offers as his own goodbye. He actually uses the door this time, instead of heading in a separate direction and disappearing as usual.

Now that he was gone, Toriel got out of her seat. She was preparing to head for her room. Before doing so, she spoke to Frisk. “Would you like to continue that book we were reading together?”

They had other plans. “No. Just playing in my room.” With that, they left their seated position as well.

“Then I shall read alone. I should be sitting in here for some time, once I have picked out a book from my room. Do not hesitate to ask if you need something.” She replied.

Following this exchange, both of them departed for their respective rooms. Once Frisk was inside, they waited until they heard Toriel walk past on her return trip to the living room. Now there was little chance of her incidentally hearing them speak to their narrator friend. Chara remained silent, hovering nearby in the room. It was clear they had no intention of starting whatever conversation may occur themself. Frisk needed to do that.

“We have to find Fl-” They corrected. “-Asriel. You can help.”

“I fail to see how. He could be anywhere if he left for the surface.” Chara stated negatively.

“Alphys made something. It’ll find him. I hope.” They added.

“You really think some device can easily find him? Are you certain this was not just her guilt talking?” They’d regretted the final words almost as soon as they were spoken. They wouldn’t let Frisk know that though. Still, Chara continued to doubt a positive outcome. These things were not solved so easily.

Frisk huffed at this remark. “I’m going to her tomorrow. We’ll test it.” They guessed that the other human had reason to be skeptical, but they weren’t going to give up. Not until it was the only real choice.

“As you wish. I will follow you to wherever this leads. I have nothing better to do.” Chara replied, accepting the situation.

“What should we do now? I have board games.” Frisk suggests.

“Not interested. In fact, I was going to try to do the closest thing I can to sleeping. It’s best that I get involved as little as possible with your life.” The offer is rejected.

“You can’t do that. What about Asriel?” Frisk refused to back down on this point.

That irritated Chara, but they did their best not to show it. “What about him? Did you think you could magically solve everything once you found us both? It does not work like that.”

“Trying is still better.” Frisk continued uncompromisingly.

“Not in this case. I clearly should not have known him in the first place. My actions effectively destroyed his entire family. Perhaps not physically, but that only makes it worse.” Chara felt the two should remain separate. They did not deserve to be his sibling.

“Whatever. Let’s just find him at least.” Frisk found this conversation taxing. They liked it better when they could just fight someone to befriend or help them.

“An acceptable plan. I will...consider your idea.” Chara was not looking forward to this. Perhaps Frisk had a point. They did owe it to their family to try to be better. Even if that family was mostly wreckage at this point.

Frisk was happy to have at least chipped away at their stubborn insistence to hide away. Neither of them felt like returning to the subject after that or talking at all really. By the time Frisk wished to talk to them again, Chara had disappeared into that sleep state they’d mentioned. At least, Frisk hoped that was the case. The day passed without Chara revealing themself after this. It made their own sleep more difficult to begin. Eventually though, they managed to fall unconscious after some time. A new day soon greeted them. They had not noticed at first when Toriel was ensuring that they were truly awake, but Chara had thankfully returned. It was a relief to see that their fears were unfounded. After going through the usual morning routines, they asked Toriel about visiting Alphys again. Just like the previous times, she was fine with it. The duo then went out into the neighborhood, setting course for the scientists home. At the end of their casual stroll, some familiar faces intercepted them right by her house.

“HEY! I see where you’re going. Say hi to Undyne for me~” A certain ghost addressed them in her typical boisterous fashion.

Napstablook was a short distance behind her. Closing the gap, they spoke as well. “sorry to stop you. we just wanted to tell you about our show.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be great! I’d prefer to do my own, but it turns out making TV shows is hard. I just decided to join one of Mettaton’s productions. That way HE can do all the hard work!” She added, like it was some great con.

“i...hope you like it. here is a poster.” They continue, offering the aforementioned object to Frisk.

Frisk grabs the poster, holding it up to get a good look. Mettaton and Mad Mew Mew are the most prominent figures, but Napstablook can be seen behind them operating a turntable. Shyren is singing nearby them. The dummy from the ruins also happens to be present, adorned in a costume to make them fit in more. Their role does not seem to be an active one. It reminded Frisk that they’d not seen said dummy since leaving the underground. Not that it would have mattered much if they had. The poster didn’t not really reveal anything about the shows content. They didn’t care though, they’d watch it regardless.

“Cool.” Frisk comments.

“Who’s your new friend?” Mads questioned.

This confused Frisk at first, but their companion’s response explained everything.

“You can see me, can’t you?” Chara asked the ghost. It made sense. Napstablook and some other monsters had reacted to their narration of Frisk’s actions. Seeing them now was a natural extension of that.

“Why couldn’t we?” She retorted.

“yeah. i think i...recognize your voice too.” Napstablook added.

“I thought so. That might be a problem.” Chara replied.

“Don’t tell anyone about them.” Frisk requested. It might be a problem if Toriel ever found out. Their spectral friend would be hard to explain away.

“it’s cool. we won’t.” The shy ghost offered as an assurance.

“Yeah. I don’t care about your secret friend. Do whatever you want.” Mads supplied in concert.

“Thanks. I’ll watch your show. Looks good.” Frisk responded.

“i guess we should go.” They began to hover away from the human.

Mad Mew Mew echoed this, following behind them. She did have one last thing to say as this happened though. “You’d better watch every minute, mew~ Goodbye!”

Frisk and Chara refocused their attention on the shared lab home of Alphys and Undyne. Walking closer, the corporeal human pressed its doorbell. Soon after, the door opened to reveal Undyne. She greeted Frisk.

“I heard you were here for some science stuff. I’ll take you right to her! She’s been working hard on whatever that thing is.”

The fish monster did as promised, marching toward the lab area with the human in tow. “Look who I brought in.” She announced to Alphys, who was concentrating on the device she’d made the other day.

“O-oh. I probably should have remembered to listen for the doorbell.” Alphys said, looking up at the only two visible individuals in the room. “I m-might have overstated its effectiveness before. The range is short and I actually don’t think we can make many of them. S-Sorry. I’ll try my best though!”

Frisk tries to hide their disappointment, it wasn’t Alphys’ fault she couldn’t do the impossible. They kind of felt bad for putting so much pressure on her.

“What does this thing do anyway?” Undyne asks.

“It is a tracking device.” She halts, uncertain of clarifying further. Alphys decides there is no point hiding it from Undyne. “We are trying to find Flowey.”

“Wait. You mean that flower that attacked us all?! Why would we help someone like that?” The fish inquires with a degree of confusion.

Frisk speaks up while Alphys is still trying to cobble together a reply. “He’s not like that anymore.”

Undyne is skeptical. “Whatever you say, kid. I’ll keep my guard up just in case. Do what you think is right I guess.”

“Well, w-we should start the test. I placed some determination vials in the flowerpot of a flower from that old lab. That will hopefully r-replicate Flowey’s presence.” Alphys explained.

Everyone else waited while she prepared the device for this test. Chara was curious as to how it functioned, wishing they could ask Alphys for such information. Frisk just hoped for the best. Once it was all finalized, the lizard-like monster pressed a button to activate it. The device lit up and made a quiet mechanical humming noise. All this effort seemed to have paid off. Its operator had a confused look on her face though. Like she’d encountered a puzzle she could not solve.

“What’s wrong?” Undyne beats Frisk to saying something of a similar nature.

“The readings are w-weird. There are two signatures showing up. It should only be one.” Alphys was unsure of what this meant. Maybe she’d done something wrong, producing an erroneous result.

“So it’s a glitch?” Her girlfriend continued.

“Maybe. I d-don’t know. That would only truly happen if Flowey were very close.” It was possible, she thought.

“Let me see.” Frisk insisted.

“Go ahead.” Their reptilian friend obliges.

They take the device, closely examining what it shows them. It points them in two directions. One is toward the test setup, the other looks to be outside. “Need to go out there.” They motion toward the front door.

“Okay...” Alphys replies.

Frisk rushes to exit the house, running out the front door. Holding the device up to check it, they notice it is pointing in a rather specific direction. The other reading is seemingly leading them toward Papyrus and Sans home. It could be mere coincidence, but there was reason to think otherwise. Flowey was friends with Papyrus based on what he had said. With luck, the device was functioning perfectly fine.

* * *

Flowey had kept himself rather busy since his decision to leave the underground. After his encounter with Papyrus, he took up shelter in that park he’d slept in during his first time in the city. It was preferable to other alternatives at the moment, as he had not wanted to be seen by Frisk and the others yet. Papyrus was surprisingly friendly with him, despite past transgressions. He could probably help Flowey find somewhere new. He had waited a while for the right moment, but living here was getting old fast. This place serviced its purpose, but was far from ideal. In the time since their meeting, he had continued to roam the city. His main goal in doing so was learning more about humans. Interestingly, he found that many humans had attempted to discover evidence of monsterkind. Some efforts were more serious endeavors, while others were performed by mere amateurs that saw monsters in everything they examined. The closest thing to proof that had been found were many old ruins that had features clearly not meant for humans. The topic caused much debate over what these beings truly were. Whether or not they were the monsters many believed to have once existed or something else that had spawned such notions via a misunderstanding. Many assumed the structures were religiously ceremonial in nature, temples made for only the gods to use. These debates were given an answer once the barrier broke. Monsters were unquestionably real, but not the evil creatures that many thought them to be. Some even considered the idea that other monster communities might still exist as well. After all, nobody had ever properly discovered this one in all that time. It was a lot for Flowey to think about after his researched had concluded. He didn’t feel like doing any more heavy reading for a long time.

His shelter in the park took the form of a tree. He had arranged it to be a moderately acceptable living space, bending branches and carving out nooks. He kept a plastic container there which stored most of his recently acquired things. Among these was the bow Papyrus had arranged to be created for him. He preferred not to wear it, especially since it might get damaged. So, it remained safely stored away for now. One of his favorite acquisitions was a human phone which he used to access the internet or play games on occasion. He found that the human internet was far more populated with content by comparison to the monsters version. It was possible to view every single website on the monsters network, but that was not the case on the human one. There were far more websites present on it. He imagined it would take hundreds or likely thousands of years to go through them all. As such, it was a great distraction alongside the games. He even added Papyrus as a contact on the phone. The two chatted regularly now as a result, it was nice to be able to do so once again.

He absentmindedly scrolled through various things on the phone, settling on nothing in particular. Devoid of any distractions, he decided that now might be a good time to ask Papyrus about where to move. Surely the ambassador would be able to pull some strings or something. The only potential issue was Sans. There was not much chance that he would approve of them even interacting. He was glad that Sans did not remember past timelines. That being said, it was actually very difficult to get Sans to do anything direct. He had learned that when he held power over time. The skeleton was oddly self-righteous for somebody who just lets other people die. There was no doubt in his mind that Sans could have stopped him many times, but he just didn’t except in extreme circumstances. Once sufficiently provoked though, things got ugly fast. Good thing that was the opposite of Flowey’s intention. Pulling up the contacts, he pressed the only one present and moved the phone to where he could hear the other speaker.

“FLOWEY! IT IS GOOD TO TRULY HEAR FROM YOU.” Papyrus began.

Right. He’d only texted him until this point. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“AS YOU WISH. QUESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME.” The other monster proclaimed.

“It was about finding...a new place to go.” He said, losing confidence part of the way through his sentence. Maybe this wasn’t the brilliant idea he thought it would be.

“A NEW HOME, JUST LIKE THE OTHER MONSTERS. THAT SOUNDS GREAT.” Papyrus remarked.

“So you’ll help me?” Flowey asked.

“OF COURSE. I EVEN HAVE A PERFECT IDEA ALREADY.” The skeleton pronounced with certainty.

“Where?” The living flower questioned. That was quicker than expected.

“MY HOUSE. THOUGH I MAY HAVE TROUBLE CONVINCING SANS.” No certitude was lost in this statement.

“What?! I tried to take all of your souls and kill Frisk. You honestly shouldn’t even be speaking to me after that.” Flowey was dumbfounded at the very concept. He’d like to do that in an ideal world, but in that world Flowey would’ve not been so awful.

“I’M PRETTY SURE YOU WERE THE ONE WHO BROKE THE BARRIER. DOING THAT PROVES YOU WANT TO BE A BETTER PERSON.” He asserted.

“How did you…?” He trailed off for a second. “I still don’t see how that makes it any different.”

“I BELIEVE IT DOES.” Papyrus added.

“Whatever. Let’s just talk about me staying I guess.” This was not a topic Flowey wished to debate.

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT SANS. HE WON’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING. YOU KNOW HOW HE IS.” The request to change topics was somewhat granted.

“You’re right about that.” He agreed.

“ARE YOU FINE WITH SLEEPING ON THE COUCH? I CAN OFFER MY OWN BED UNTIL ONE IS ACQUIRED FOR YOU.” Papyrus asked.

“Yeah.” Imposing on the person who forgave him for such terrible things was the last things he wanted to do.

“THEN ALL SHOULD BE GOOD. I CAN STORE SOME OF YOUR THINGS IN THE SHED IF NECESSARY.” The skeleton continued.

“I don’t have much. It’s fine.” This was happening for some reason.

“WHERE ARE YOU?” Searching every possible area nearby was impractical. Even with shortcuts, which he refused to use out of principle.

“The park in the center of the city.” Flowey answered.

“HOW WONDERFUL. I’LL BE THERE SHORTLY.” Papyrus confirmed.

“Okay. Bye.” He hung up the phone after this.

Now he would have to wait for his skeletal friend to get here. He placed the phone back in the aforementioned plastic storage receptacle, wrapping a vine around the small box afterward. Holding on to it on his way down, he descended from the makeshift tree-house. Once on the ground again, he followed the parks stone paths to the entrance. That was the easiest place for Papyrus to find him. Releasing the container that held his stuff, he opened it and reached inside. After removing the phone yet again, he closed it back. This would keep him distracted until his friend arrived. Selecting a puzzle game on his phones menu, he begin to play in order to pass time. He wasn’t that much into puzzles before, well, all that happened. Since becoming Flowey though, there had been a lot of time to learn how many of them work. It was rewarding to find the solutions to them. They certainly gave him something to do during his many times resetting the timeline. Eventually they stopped being interesting like everything else though. There were only so many to solve in the underground. Once finished, they lost their appeal. On the surface though, there seemed to be an unlimited number of them. When he wasn’t busy exploring the city, it helped give him something to do. Other kinds of games that were available via the phone served this purpose as well. Playing video games in general wasn’t anything new to him though. Like with the puzzles, he was glad to have ones he hadn’t played to death.

It wasn’t too long before he briefly looked up from his phone to see Papyrus’ car approach. This whole thing seemed undeserved, but he accepted it as it is. Provided things went well, he could begin the uncomfortable task of starting this new life. The vehicle stop precisely in front of him.

“PAPYRUS HAS ARRIVED. FEEL FREE TO GET IN.” The other monster announced proudly.

Flowey responded wordlessly, using his vines to open, then close the door. Following that, he buckled the seatbelt despite being uncertain as to its efficacy. His small and thin body wasn’t really suited to it.

“PERHAPS I SHOULD GET SOMETHING MORE BEFITTING YOUR FORM. ARE YOU PREPARED TO LEAVE?” Papyrus continued.

“Yes. This place wasn’t that great anyway.” Flowey answered.

“THEN WE WILL DEPART.” With that statement, Papyrus began to drive back home.

Flowey remained silent the entire way there. He didn’t really feel like anything was worth saying. Questioning Papyrus’ forgiveness seemed both unwise and a waste of time. Might as well try to enjoy this while it lasts. Their trip was a short one, the two had reached the intended destination fairly quickly. Hometown was right outside the city, making the journey quite swift. Both of them left the car, moving toward the front door of the skeleton brothers shared home. Papyrus was obviously the one to open the door, as Flowey definitely did not want to barge right in. As the door was politely held open, Flowey obliged the skeleton as soon as possible. Now the two of them were inside. It was practically unchanged from when Flowey had last seen the place. He really wondered why they didn’t just have a new home made. Moving this must have been a hassle even with the right magic.

“HERE WE ARE. THANKFULLY, YOU NEED NO INTRODUCTION. WE JUST MOVED THE HOUSE.” Papyrus explained.

“I noticed.” Flowey added.

“I BELIEVE WE CAN FIND SOME KIND OF ARRANGEMENT FOR YOU HERE. IF NOT, WE COULD ALWAYS BE ROOMMATES.” He proposed.

“Sound good.” The flower replied. He would like the privacy of his own room, but refused to ask for one outright. Papyrus’ room wasn’t that bad of an option anyway. “Where is Sans?”

“OH. HE IS VISITING FRISK AND TORIEL AT THE MOMENT.” Papyrus answered.

“Good timing, I guess.” If this went terribly, at least he gave it a shot.

A more optimistic outlook came from the skeleton. “I’M SURE EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE.”

“I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing the conversation about Flowey's past actions, I was listening to the Undertale OST. The title track "Undertale" played rather fittingly during that time.
> 
> I seem to have a habit of ending these in cliffhangers. It just works so well as an ending point.
> 
> As always, help correcting any errors is appreciated. Just be polite about it.
> 
> [I'm going to use this section to lay out the comment rules as well.]
> 
> 1\. Refer to characters by canon pronouns. (This means you only use they/them on Chara for example.)  
> 2\. Don't complain that I don't follow the evil Chara theory or other similar obnoxiously pervasive fandom ideas.  
> 3\. Be polite. I'm not going to tolerate rude people.
> 
> [I might add more if I see a need for it.]


	5. Your Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finds Flowey.
> 
> Papyrus plans something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try to post these at least once a month and I almost missed this month. This chapter would have been done a few days ago if I didn't run into some computer problems. All is good in the end though.

“It’s p-pointing at their house? Are you sure that means anything?” Alphys asked Frisk, catching up with them shortly after they sprinted outside. Undyne is next to her, having done the same.

“Papyrus would be the kind of person to befriend that flower. I just hope you’re right about all of this, Frisk.” Undyne remarked.

“I-I guess it can’t hurt to check? That would make this a l-lot easier.” Alphys added.

Frisk wordlessly choose to press on to the home of the skeleton brothers, opting out of any further discussion on the matter. The monster couple followed along as they did so. Chara was reluctantly present for all of this. Their discomfort with the situation was subtly visible in the expression they wore. Given the close proximity of all the homes, this little trip did not take any time at all. Frisk reached the door of the aforementioned location, giving it a hearty knock. Before anybody could respond, Chara decided to say something.

“I think I’m going to sit this out. You don’t need my help.”

Frisk is unable to offer any kind of response to the other human, Chara faded back into that ‘sleep’ state they’d entered previously. Frisk was only slightly annoyed at their evasiveness, settling mostly on indifference. They supposed it did give them more ability to focus solely on Flowey. Convincing him to do anything might be a challenge. These thoughts abruptly came to an end when Sans answered the door. That didn’t happen very often.

“heya, kid. looking for someone?” Sans questions, despite already knowing the answer.

“Flowey.” Frisk states with a degree of annoyance. They didn’t feel like dealing with his feigned ignorance.

“relax. just messing with ya. he’s here alright.” The skeleton retorted.

Alphys and Undyne catch up with Frisk immediately following this exchange. Undyne had considered chasing after them, but opted to stick with Alphys instead. The couple notices that Sans has answered the door and is speaking to the human. It is something Undyne has never seen before. Sans usually just ignored anybody who knocked when only he was home. Maybe Papyrus was finally getting through to him. The fish monster felt she needed to comment on the event.

“When did you start actually answering the door? This might as well be a miracle.” She remarked.

Sans shrugs his shoulders. “just thought i’d change things up for once. don’t worry. it’ll be back to business as usual before long.”

“Of course you’d say something like that.” She replied. He clearly hadn’t changed that much, but maybe there was hope yet. He’d probably not admit to it anyway.

“S-so, is the flower really here?” Alphys asked. Papyrus had mentioned being friends with the subject in question before they were attacked. She wished she knew what happened after that. Frisk was reluctant to tell her any details about it all. She hoped that it didn’t have any lasting negative impact on them. There weren’t any other reasons she could imagine for them to hide what happened.

“yep. guess he’s out of the soul-stealing game.” He answered.

“We’ll see about that.” Undyne responded.

“Where is he?” Frisk asks now that the other monsters have greeted each other.

“oh. papyrus’ room. hangs out there for now.” Sans informed them.

“Going in.” They stated plainly.

“sure. go ahead, kid. these two should stay back though. can’t say he’d like them visiting as well.” The skeleton added.

“Fine. You’re probably right.” Undyne said. It was not like the kid needed her help anyway. They’d already beaten that flower once before. She was certain they could do it again if needed.

“That makes sense.” Alphys shares the sentiment.

Alphys and Undyne choose to depart, the former being somewhat glad she doesn't have to meet Flowey. Frisk walks inside the home of the two brothers, leaving everyone else behind. They head straight toward Papyrus’ room. Once at the door, they open it cautiously. Flowey is indeed there, sitting at the computer desk. He seems very focused on some kind of game. It looks to be one of the shooter variety. They choose not to disturb him too quickly. At some point, his in-game character dies. This prompts him to quit the game, mildly frustrated.

“Whatever. I was getting bored of it anyway.” He comments as he gets off of the computer chair. Upon doing so, he notices Frisk just standing there. “Oh. I was going to find you first. Too late for that now.” He pauses. “What do you want? I bet it has something to do with Chara.”

“You know?!” They ask. It had not occurred to them that he might have reached a similar conclusion.

“I know that some part of them is still around. I could...sense it I guess.” Flowey responded. “You did a lot things that didn’t make any sense without some kind of knowledge of the underground. That lingering piece of them must have helped you.” He continued.

They weren’t sure how to approach this now. Had the two interacted at all?

“Did you talk to them?” Frisk inquired.

“I said some things. It was just one way though.” Flowey humored them. “I’m honestly not sure if they were even able to hear me. So it doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” The human offered a rebuttal.

“Listen, this isn’t going to end up how you think it will. Even if you got us to talk, it won’t help anything. I’m just a weird flower and they probably don’t have any kind of body.” This subject was quite tiresome to him. “Just be glad everything ended so nicely. You don’t have to solve everyone’s problems. That line of thinking didn’t end well for Chara.” He bluntly added.

“But...I got help. So I’m still trying.” Frisk replied.

Flowey was uncertain as to the exact meaning of their statement, but it did not change his stance. Nobody could do anything about this situation. He’d seen practically everything the monsters could or would do, so he’d know if that were possible. Even in his best endings, he stayed a flower.

“What help? Do you really think any of your monster friends can bring back the dead? I’m only around because of some freak accident. An experiment gone wrong. Chara may still exist somehow, but that doesn’t mean we can reach them.” He felt that his rant was perhaps a bit melodramatic, but still served its function. Maybe he should have tried more carefully to avoid them. That way this sort of encounter would have been under his control. Taking moment to cool down, he’d noticed something in Frisk’s reaction. They must have done more than just tried to get help. They looked like they were hiding some important piece of information. “Unless you know something I don’t.”

Frisk supposed it wouldn’t hurt to tell him a bit more. “Gaster helped. The old scientist.”

That name being mentioned tore apart any expectations he might have had regarding this conversation. He heard stories about his death, which made Frisk’s statement odd. However, it was clear by now that death didn’t always stick where magic was concerned. He was a prime example, even if his resurrection was considerably less than ideal. What could have brought the former royal scientist back though? He hoped that Frisk might be able to fill him in on the subject.

“A dead man helped you. I know I technically came back, but that is really strange. At least I know why I’m ‘alive’ again. How did he help you anyway? More importantly, why would he help you?”

This was tricky. If they said too much, Flowey would realize that they had interacted with Chara. The fact that Chara was actually with them needed to stay hidden for now. The other human would not like that being revealed. Frisk had to try and convince them to let said information be conveyed to Flowey at a later point. That plan would be complicated if it got out now. They needed to be careful with their word choice.

“Told me to find you. Then he’d meet us.” They lied. An apology might need to be issued later, but they didn’t have time to think about that too much.

“Really. I look forward to hearing his plan then.” He replied. “Are you sure he’s not just using you? Maybe this is all just a trick.” Flowey continued.

He sensed that they were still hiding something, but this was enough of a revelation to satisfy him for now. As for his remarks, they did reflect his genuine feelings on the matter. Gaster always creeped him out when he was still truly alive. He had some kind of obsession with humans. He hadn’t been able to analyze him like the other monsters due to his death, so accurately predicting his behavior would be difficult. He was so strange that Flowey wasn’t sure he’d be able to do so even if Gaster had survived whatever disaster befell him. That being said, Gaster certainly was someone that was unrelenting in the pursuit of his goals. He practically never left that lab. It was evidently the trait that got him killed.

His reply was a relief to Frisk, he seemed to accept what they’d said enough to give them more time. “Don’t think so. Monsters are nice.” They found his suspicion to be unfounded. He clearly had not lost his cynicism, even if he was expressing it in a less awful way.

“Whatever. Even if that were always true, he is pretty weird by monster standards. I guess I’ll just go along with it.” He pauses. “Let’s just wait for Papyrus to get back. He should be done with some errands pretty soon. We’ll talk more about this later.” Papyrus was very consistent with his routine. The skeleton always did things like grocery shopping really early.

“Okay.” Frisk concurred, the conversation wasn’t going well anyway.

The two waited around in the aforementioned skeleton’s room for his return. Flowey was more than happy to show off the games he’d been playing on the computer within. He barely actually played any of them, just started them up long enough to demonstrate how they worked. Some appealed to Frisk and others did not. After he had finished doing that, the human decided to check on what Sans was doing. Leaving the room, they looked at the couch. Upon observation, they saw that the skeleton monster had fallen asleep while sitting on the living room couch. Nothing out of the ordinary for Sans. By sheer coincidence, Papyrus entered the house right after they looked at Sans. Upon entry, he briefly inspects his brother with a quick glance. The look on his face makes his disappointment obvious. He sighs, before returning his eyes to their previous positions aiming forward. This is when he sees Frisk standing in front of the door to his room.

“FRISK! WHAT AN UNEXPECTED, YET PLEASANT SURPRISE. ALLOW ME TO PUT THESE GROCERIES AWAY AND I WILL JOIN YOU.” He says in response to their presence. The skeleton does as stated, moving into the kitchen with grocery bags in hand.

Frisk silently awaits his completion of the aforementioned task. Once finished, he returns to the living room and approaches them.

“I WAS NOT AWARE YOU WANTED TO VISIT TODAY.” Papyrus said. These things were usually planned. Frisk coming here unprompted like this typically meant there was something more happening.

“Not planned. Just found Flowey.” Frisk explained.

“OH. I SEE. HE HAD WISHED TO REMAIN UNDETECTED FOR THE MOMENT. UNDERSTANDABLY SO.” Papyrus continued.

“Already forgave him. He’s stubborn.” They pouted.

“PERHAPS, BUT I’M SURE HE’LL LEARN HOW TO BE A FRIEND AGAIN IN NO TIME. AFTER ALL, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO REMIND HIM.” Papyrus replies. He stops momentarily afterward, considering what more might need to be said. “WHY DON’T WE COMMENCE ANOTHER HANGOUT? THIS TIME FLOWEY WILL BE THERE AS WELL. WHAT DO YOU THINK?”

Frisk nods their head in agreement. This might be fun with Papyrus involved. Flowey had been trying his hardest to be distant, even if some amount of enthusiasm may have leaked out when he showed off those video games.

“WAIT A SECOND, I’VE GOT ANOTHER IDEA!” Papyrus says excitedly. “WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A SLEEPOVER? I CAN ARRANGE IT WITH TORIEL, PROVIDED SHE ALLOWS IT.”

That prompts another affirmative nod from Frisk. Papyrus walks back down the steps into the living room again. From there, he pulls out his phone and calls the human’s adoptive mother as planned. Toriel ends up permitting the arrangement. The skeleton relays this information to an enthusiastic Frisk. During this event, San awakens from his slumber upon the couch. This draws the attention of Papyrus, followed shortly thereafter by Frisk.

“did I miss anything?” Sans chooses as his first words after regaining consciousness.

“YES, BROTHER. I RETURNED WITH OUR GROCERIES. ALSO, FRISK SHALL BE STAYING HERE OVERNIGHT.” Papyrus answered with slight exasperation.

“cool. guess it’s time for lunch.” Sans adds, getting off the couch. He heads in the general direction of the kitchen. “i’ll be at grillby’s.” He says before walking into the kitchen and disappearing via a shortcut.

“I JUST BOUGHT US FOOD TO EAT HERE, SANS!” Papyrus exclaims to the now absent sibling. His brother did some truly maddening things at times. He sighs, before continuing. “LET’S JUST TALK TO FLOWEY.”

Frisk silently agreed, following Papyrus into his room. It appeared that Flowey had remained seated at the computer this whole time. He was playing one of the games he’d previously shown off to Frisk.

“I HAVE RETURNED, MY FRIEND.” The skeleton monster announced.

Flowey turned around in the chair after exiting the game. “Good. Maybe you can tell Frisk to not bother me for a while. If they would have just waited, I could have said hello when I was ready.” He said.

“I’M AFRAID MY PLANS ARE A BIT DIFFERENT.” Papyrus responded.

“Fine. I guess it’s too late for that anyway.” Flowey begrudgingly stated.

“DON’T GET SO DOWN AND DOUR ALREADY. I HAVEN’T EVEN TOLD YOU ABOUT IT.” Papyrus adds. An explanation follows. “WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A SLEEPOVER. I ALSO HAVE A SPECIAL EVENT PLANNED FOR TOMORROW.” The skeleton turns to Frisk. “PLEASE DO NOT TELL TORIEL. IF SHE ASKS FOR DETAILS, SHE MIGHT NOT...APPROVE ENTIRELY.” He pleaded.

Frisk nods positively, Toriel didn’t need to know every adventure they embarked upon.

Flowey was not very keen on Frisk being here for an extended amount of time, but that last statement piqued his interest. He might not believe in ‘kill or be killed’ anymore, but he was always glad to engage in a little rule-breaking. This might turn out to be pretty fun. It was good to see that Frisk was not a killjoy as well. This new life was starting to look a lot better than the boring alternatives.

“Great. Would you mind telling us about the special event? Or is it just supposed to be secret until then?” Flowey remarked.

“IT WILL REMAIN SECRET FOR THE MOMENT. I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU NOW, BUT I BELIEVE NOT DOING SO WILL BE MORE REWARDING.” Papyrus answered.

Flowey was only ever so slightly annoyed at this, but made sure not to reveal his opinions one way or the other. “Oh well. It was worth a shot. I don’t really care either way.” He lied.

“WELL, I GUESS OUR HANGOUT CAN OFFICIALLY BEGIN NOW. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?” He thought for a second, realizing that he’d forgotten something fairly important. “WAIT! WE SHOULD PROBABLY EAT BEFORE IT TRULY BEGINS. FRIENDSHIP IS MORE DIFFICULT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, SO FRISK NEEDS TO EAT. THOSE OF US WITHOUT ONE SHOULD TOO THOUGH.” He appended to his other words.

“Okay. I guess I can, but as a flower I don’t really need to eat normally.” Flowey accepted.

Frisk gave a silent gesture indicating their acceptance of the proposal as well.

Following this collective agreement, each of them left the room to eat. Papyrus prepared their meals, opting not to cook anything at the moment. Everything was merely pre-prepared stuff which only needed to be microwaved at most. Practicing his cooking skills would have to wait another day. He did not feel as though any of his current experimental recipes were ready for consumption yet. The hangout could finally begin once they had all finished eating. Each meal was personally selected, so nobody had any trouble doing so. Papyrus made sure to keep the kitchen stocked with something for everybody. Now that lunch was over, the hangout could actually start properly. The only matter to be resolved was what they all might occupy their time with doing. Flowey had a suggestion.

“Why don’t we use that old console I found? I think I can hook it up to this TV. Alphys really went overboard with the compatibility upgrades.” Flowey supplied. He conveniently left out where he’d gotten the thing from. It was still in the place he’d left it last, that being the king’s castle. He and Chara used to play various games on the device before everything that happened. It was very easy to reclaim it since the king hardly ever even stayed at the castle anymore. He had made sure to get it after Papyrus allowed him to move in.

“SO LONG AS EVERYONE CAN PLAY. IT SOUNDS WONDERFUL.” The skeleton replied.

“That won’t be a problem. I’ve got two different controllers I use. Frisk can have the...other one. There are three of them.” Flowey confirms. Never mind that the one he was giving to Frisk was cheaper and less comfortable to use. He wonders how it lasted so long in storage anyway. The remote controller Alphys made would probably work, but he thought it was funnier this way.

“GREAT. I’LL HELP YOU SET THINGS UP.” Papyrus added.

Frisk was indifferent to the choice of activity, they were just glad to see a different side to Flowey. They just sat on the couch and watched the others configure the device.

“I see he found that thing.” Chara unexpectedly chimed in. They’d returned at some point.

Frisk had almost forgotten about them being gone. At least they didn’t disappear for too long this time. Frisk is careful to note Chara’s position nearby without making it too obvious. It might look odd if either of the others saw them seemingly staring into space for no apparent reason. Flowey might even realize what was happening. An unwelcome outcome regardless of which occurred. The console was now hooked up properly to the TV after a short interval. Flowey quickly pressed the power button to activate it once this was done. Papyrus watched as he did so, filled with anticipation as to what they might play. Then Flowey inserted the game into the console and waited for it to load. Following this, he triumphantly announced the title of the game after this process had finished.

“Super Smashing Fighters! The perfect game for us to play together, whether you like it or not.” He said.

“I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT.” Papyrus was hyped for this. Fighting was clearly an excellent bonding activity, so his friend had chosen wisely.

Flowey then hands out the controllers to everybody, making sure he and Papyrus got the good ones. Frisk is unaware of his favoritism, but notices the differences with their controller compared to the others pretty fast. It isn’t something with which they are concerned. Chara recognizes the controller though, consequently chuckling to themself. The corporeal human is unaware of their amusement, having shifted focus completely to the game. Flowey navigated the menus of the game in order to get things going. It wasn’t very long before they were all selecting characters. Flowey picked some sort of lizard creature, but then changed his mind after some deliberation. His final selection was an aggressive-looking living plant instead. Papyrus chose the person in high tech armor, which had a blaster replacing one of the arms. Frisk had a hard time reaching a decision, but eventually settled on what appeared to be the only robot on the roster. Flowey sighed once they did this, having been impatient with the waiting. Chara was silent during this process aside from a single remark.

“He saw an ad for this game once. After that, he had always wanted to play it.” They recounted.

From there, the actual gameplay began. Frisk won most of the early rounds, having adapted quickly to how the game was played. Papyrus was mildly confused at certain mechanics to start off, but gradually started to get better. Flowey was terrible at first, blaming his losses on not being used to the controller yet. He claimed it was difficult to handle with vines. However, once he calmed down a bit and focused, he was on par with Frisk. Eventually, all three of them were winning matches. It became a mostly even playing field from then on. The competition was quite intense after a while. Flowey and Papyrus would boast of impending victories, but Frisk remained silent in order to maintain focus. The human grew tired of playing after a sustained period of this. They signaled to the others that they wished to take a break. Flowey barely made any acknowledgment of this, but Papyrus make sure to say something.

“DON’T WORRY, FRISK. THE COMPETITION WILL LIVE ON WITHOUT YOU.” The skeleton said in response to them.

After that, Frisk sat their controller down near the console. They then moved on over to the couch, sitting down to watch the other two play. Papyrus and Flowey hadn’t lost any of their will to play. Papyrus was definitely right. Both of them continued to play match after match. Frisk’s interest in spectating this waned after a time. They reached for their phone, deciding that it would better occupy their time. They scrolled through social media posts and played games, not really caring to keep any track of the time passed. While thoroughly distracted by this, a sudden shifting of the couch could be felt. It pulled their attention away enough for them to look at the cause. Sans had sat down beside them on the couch. The space remained free since neither of the two players bothered to sit down. In fact, both were still quite animated. Papyrus had been standing up the entire time. Sans watched his brother play the game for a brief moment, before choosing to say something to the human.

“quite the, uh, game I guess.” He stated.

From then on, Sans decided to continue the conversation in another format. Pulling out his own phone, he texts Frisk instead of direct verbal communication. They don’t bother to reply, simply reading each one as they receive them.

‘you know, gotta admit i didn’t see this coming.’

‘the flower just came in and apologized.’

‘can’t say how much i believe it all, but whatever.’

‘papyrus seems to enjoy his company, so that’s fine with me.’

‘not like it matters, even if he’s got some secret evil plan.’

‘i’m just glad he’s doing something else for a change.’

‘you probably know more about that than me though.’

‘no rush to spill the details. i don’t really care.’

‘another new friend is always a good thing.’

‘not like i was going to do anything about it anyway.’

‘well, guess that’s all.’

After the final text, Sans put the phone away and leaned back into the couch. He closed his eyes, falling asleep a short while later. Frisk turns back to the television, seeing that the intense video game battle between friends still rages on. They step off of the couch, making their way toward their skeletal friend’s room. Perhaps it would have something of interest within, since Flowey had recently taken residence here. Looking around, they could not see anything that had changed. They really shouldn’t be surprised, Flowey had watched them a fair bit back then. Of course he’d be aware of their curious nature and be sure to hide things away. Disappointing, but that was just how things were. They supposed that they might just try to talk to Chara instead. The spectral human had been rather elusive so far. Maybe they could actually speak in a meaningful capacity now. Though they would need to be a little careful to avoid being noticed. It was good Flowey was currently distracted by other matters. They made some attempt to gesture at the other fallen human to illicit a response. It succeeded.

“You want something, I suppose.” Chara replied.

“Not sure what to do.” Frisk said.

“Your clarity is remarkable.” Chara continued sarcastically.

“Lied to Flowey. Said we’d meet Gaster.” Frisk explained.

“That certainly is a problem you have created for yourself.” Chara added.

“You won’t help?” Frisk asks in return.

“Maybe. I don’t really see what I can do though.” Chara said.

“Fine. Figure out later.” Frisk had become somewhat dulled to their cynical perspective.

“As you wish.” Chara responded.

The discussion was the last they’d have on that day. Frisk’s wishes of conversation still unfulfilled. Papyrus made dinner not long after it. He was apologetic about forgetting it during all those ‘Super Smashing Fighters’ battles. Thankfully, it was wasn’t actually very late when he realized. Sans even managed to join them for the meal. He made an effort to pester Flowey as much as possible. Once dinner had been finished, everybody made preparations to sleep. Papyrus reiterated that something special was planned, which he’d alluded to earlier. It required that everyone sleep at a reasonable hour. Flowey protested this, but was swayed to concede after a debate with Papyrus on the issue. Without him holding up the process, everybody was able to find a place to rest. Papyrus did so in the usual place, upon his distinctive bed. Sans went off to his own room. Flowey made a makeshift bed using an extra pillow, staying inside Papyrus’ room. Frisk got the couch, having no issue with the arrangement. The lights were all turned off once each of them managed to prepare for a good nights sleep. Unconsciousness soon claimed everyone aside from Chara. They continued to linger in the living room, growing restless due to a lack of stimuli. Something compelled them to remain awake. Though they weren’t sure their method of rest could truly be called sleep.

They decided that there was actually a good reason to not rest. This renewed bond with Frisk seemed different. Testing its limits would be wise. There might be new things they could do that were previously impossible. With that in mind, they set out to find said limitations. For now, only a very simple test was necessary. They had not been able to move too far away from Frisk beforehand. It shackled them to the other human, much to their annoyance. Going along with Frisk wasn’t exactly within their power to avoid. That’s why they made the best of the situation, finding amusement in narrating their journey. Perhaps now the constraints had somehow changed. Chara moved outside the house, phasing through its walls. The end of the yard represented the approximate limit that existed before. When they reached that point, they attempted to go even further toward the street. That ended up working out just fine, things had clearly changed. They were able to behold the entirety of this section of the neighborhood that housed Frisk’s friends. Now they would try to see what new boundary might exist. Hovering along the street, they continued on further and further. They passed through multiple streets before arriving at the edge of Hometown. It wasn’t a very large place, but they were glad to no longer be so restricted. Curious, they kept moving down the road that led outside of town. After a mild excursion, Chara was now at the border of the human city. A sign displaying its name was lit up in the darkness in front of them. It was not here during their lifetime, so they read the name present on the sign.

‘Nevess’

There was additional text of which they also took note.

‘Always looking toward the future.’

The slogan was pretty generic from what little Chara knew about such things. It wasn’t like they’d traveled much before living in the underground. Venturing into the city itself didn’t really appeal to them. They had achieved their goal. There were no longer any mysterious barriers keeping them tethered to Frisk. They had no intention of leaving though, there was not anywhere for them to go. All they could do was see how things went from here. They doubted it would ever meet Frisk’s grand expectations, but they might as well have something that would occupy them. A flower bed they couldn’t even touch was a poor distraction. It was time to return to the home of the skeleton brothers. They did just that, moving backwards along the trail they’d just traveled. Back inside, it was finally time to join the others in resting, they supposed.

* * *

The next morning proved to be filled with a certain level of excitement as Frisk and Flowey tried to guess at where they’d all be going. Flowey in particular had grown quite impatient as everybody ate breakfast. Once the meal was over, he voiced this to Papyrus.

“So where are we actually going? You said we needed to wait.” He inquired. “You aren’t going to wait until we get there to tell us, are you?” He added.

“WORRY NOT, MY FRIEND. I SHALL REVEAL IT ONCE WE ARE IN THE VEHICLE. SURELY THAT IS SUFFICIENT.” Papyrus replied.

“Yeah. That’s cool, I guess. I don’t agree with the idea that this waiting is rewarding or whatever. It’s just boring.” Flowey continued.

“THE BOREDOM WILL SOON CEASE THEN. LET’S GET READY.” Papyrus states. He begins to gather supplies.

Frisk and Flowey join in the effort. Snacks seem to be a big part of this preparation.

“NO ADVENTURE CAN SUCCEED WITHOUT HEALING ITEMS.” Papyrus explains.

Water and other things to drink are also collected during this time, presumably to go along with the snack items. Frisk wonders if any of them even need all of this. Their phone’s storage reaches capacity by the time these preparations are over. Flowey is the first to get in the car, eager to start this trip. Papyrus and Frisk arrive at the same time. The human is in the passenger seat, with Flowey positioned awkwardly between the two seats. Chara seems amused at the flower’s discomfort, but their expression quickly shifts back to a neutral one when Frisk notices this.

“What about Sans?” Frisk asks, given that Sans did not appear to be joining them.

“HE DOESN’T WANT TO GO. YOU KNOW HOW HE IS.” Papyrus responded.

“Good.” Flowey quickly adds.

“Okay.” Frisk replies, ignoring Flowey’s comment.

“NOW WE CAN GET GOING. I SUPPOSE I STILL NEED TO TELL YOU BOTH WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.” Papyrus remarked.

Flowey couldn’t stop himself from saying something. “Yes. I was hoping you wouldn’t forget.”

“IN THAT CASE, IT IS TIME TO REVEAL THE SECRET YOU HAVE WAITED PATIENTLY TO HEAR.” Papyrus pauses solely for the sake of dramatic tension. “WE ARE GOING ON A VERY SPECIAL MISSION. IT IS RELATED TO MY DUTIES AS AMBASSADOR.” Another pause. “THERE ARE RUMORS OF MONSTERS IN A NEARBY AREA. THE HUMAN AMBASSADOR HAS SUGGESTED I INVESTIGATE THE MATTER. I FELT THAT YOU BOTH WOULD BE OF GREAT HELP.” He finished the statement.

“Why is that worth your time though? Of course there are monsters around here. Most of them came out of the mountain pretty recently.” Flowey retorted in confusion.

“YES, BUT THIS IS DIFFERENT. THESE SIGHTINGS HAPPENED BEFORE THE BARRIER WAS BROKEN. THEY HAVE BEEN HAPPENING FOR YEARS.” Papyrus elaborated.

“You really think there are monsters that lived outside the barrier?” Flowey questioned incredulously.

“I DO NOT KNOW. THAT IS WHY WE ARE DOING THIS. I WAS SURE YOU BOTH WOULD BE INTERESTED.” Papyrus added.

“I’m interested. I just don’t believe it. The humans must be mistaken.” Flowey replied.

Frisk hoped it was true. “Sounds cool.” They proclaimed.

“THEN IT WOULD SEEM THAT WE ARE READY.” Papyrus said, starting up the car. Its engine rumbled to life.

The adventurous trip had finally begun. Chara ended up spending a good portion of it thinking about the implications of surviving monsters on the surface. They would probably have remained hidden given how their last encounter with humanity ended. But if there was one monster outside the barrier, there surely had to be more of them. Perhaps the humans weren’t as thorough as they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looking forward to the next chapter. I hope you all are as well. :)
> 
> As always, help correcting any errors is appreciated. Just be polite about it.
> 
> [I'm going to use this section to lay out the comment rules as well.]
> 
> 1\. Refer to characters by canon pronouns. (This means you only use they/them on Chara for example.)  
> 2\. Don't complain that I don't follow the evil Chara theory or other similar obnoxiously pervasive fandom ideas.  
> 3\. Be polite. I'm not going to tolerate rude people.
> 
> [I might add more if I see a need for it.]


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